The Clone Wars: Force Commander
by Luke Danger
Summary: What if the Clone Wars were not ended with Order Sixty-Six, all in accordance to plan? What if the strings of the Clone Wars were removed, leaving the Republic and the Separatists to fight to the bitter end? There are many possibilities in such an alternative history, and this is one of them. Rated T due to violence, war scenes, in-universe swears, and most importantly, politics.
1. Chapter 1

_Preface Notes: This story is intended to be a precursor and prologue to an RP on the Spacebattles forum, under the name "A Force Commander is You - Clone Wars". The idea came to me while watching the Mortis trilogy and musing on a theory I read on TV Tropes that The Clone Wars might go the way of the games and have two endings, a canon Dark Side ending which follows the movies, and a 'What If' where Anakin does not fall as a 'light side' ending. The idea stuck to me, and this is the result. The story which follows is intended to be detailed lead up to what happened since the major change in canon; namely, the death of Chancellor Palpatine (AKA Darth Sidious) occurring spontaneously and without warning. Mechanically, I was inspired a bit by Force Commander (and listened to some of its music while writing/stating the units themselves) as it was fairly realistic as far as Star Wars goes for military command, with a strong hint of The Old Republic system since it's an RP and, of course, what Star Wars would be complete without a cast of badasses leading the red (white?) shirts in the Clone Wars._

_The chapters of this story were written in order to first detail how things fell out and the turning point for the alternate continuity, to help set the scene for the start of the actual RP, and to serve as a generally enjoyable story. I never wrote this expecting everyone who participated in the RP to read the whole thing (as the relevant details are summarized with the explanation of what's up in the RP), but I more wrote it because it's an interesting area to explore, and I wanted to detail (and in some areas, commentate) on some matters of the lore, both canon and non._

_As usual, I as the author own nothing. I have dibs on the story itself, and the OC's (but I won't hold too much on the Clone Troopers; you run out of nicknames for those guys eventually), but George Lucas has call on Star Wars (retired or not), and I'd say the TCW crew has dibs on actually making the series. I'll also give credit to the crew of the 2D Star Wars: Clone Wars crew for providing the first stab into the Clone Wars in animation for the world and providing a cool (if at times hammy) series._  
_I also want to give special thanks to Gray Area on for creating the system which I used for the actual RP. It's an awesome, versatile system and it's been a privilege to use the adaptable little thing to design the RP._  
_And without further adieu, onto the story._

XX

**Chapter 1: The Clouds of Change**

**Republic **_**Venator**_**-class Cruiser **_**Indomitable**_

**Bespin Orbit**

"Admiral, what's the situation?" Anakin Skywalker asked as he walked to the bridge of the cruiser. Outside the battle group of four Separatist _Munificent_-class frigates were holding in orbit to face down the three Republic cruisers, the burning debris of the Republic's militarized space station tumbling down towards the gas giant's atmosphere and the wreckage of the station's garrison fighters was following it down. He had donned his partial clone armor in anticipation of the battle to come, colored dark gray rather than white like the normal clone armor. It was distinct, but it was the right kind of distinct and blended into dark places better than the normally all white armor worn by most other Jedi who chose to wear armor or the clones themselves.

"The Separatists are holding in orbit, and we are connecting to our remaining ground forces, information is still coming in on the ground situation, however." Admiral Yularen answered, the human male holding his hands behind his back as he gestured back to the communications suite with his head. The two walked over where Rex, Cody, and Obi-Wan were looking over a holomap of the unfolding battle on Cloud City, which was constantly being updated as information came in.

"Sir!" the clone captain said, saluting briefly to his commanding officer. Anakin returned it with a quick nod before looking to the map, noting the positions of the droids marching towards the government building.

"This is not going to be easy." Obi-Wan said, the map highlighting locations as he spoke, "Not only do we have to land in the city, but the Separatists have taken most of the good landing zones. The ones that are left are not suitable for us to make a landing due to the debris or are in the range of heavy anti-aircraft emplacements. We would lose more gunships than would reach the ground, unless some of those anti-air defenses are destroyed."

"Sir, what about a paradrop?" Rex suggested, leaning in on the display. "We drop our Jet Troopers into the city from above while the gunships make the drop and get clear. They'll spend less time exposed, and we can get them on the ground to disable the anti-air."

"That could work, but that's a big lack of anti-armor, rocket launchers are too heavy to use with jetpacks and the grenade launchers are already pushing it." Cody pointed out as he highlighted the Armored Attack Tanks being used on the map. "So whoever goes down there is going to have a lot of running to do, and we'd better hope whoever's left on the ground has some rocket launchers left."

"Sir!" a clone naval officer shouted from his station on the bridge, "Incoming transmission from the ground, CT-9544!"

"Tango Company?" Anakin said as he recognized the designation, a chill shooting down his spine as he remembered the last time Tango Company had been involved with one of his operations, and who it nearly killed. "Put them through!"

A hologram of a wounded clone trooper came into existence on the side of the map, a designator at the government building confirming his location. _"General, this is Lieutenant Scythe; we're holding at the Government Center, but we need reinforcements ASAP! We've got more droids than we can count bearing down on us and these barricades are starting to melt from the sheer volume of incoming!"_

"Understood, Lieutenant." Anakin said as he folded his arms. "We're in orbit now and moving to our launch position; can you highlight any good landing zones?"

_"Negative, General, but there's a hole in their AA defenses you might be able to do a small insert through to get under the big guns..."_

"Highlight that location, we're on our way, Scythe." Obi-Wan said in his usual calm manner, letting his arms hang idly from his sides.

_"Yes sir!"_ Scythe answered. The transmission ended.

"Rex, Cody, get everyone certified with a rocket pack down to the hanger and have the AT's ready to be landed once we've cleared holes in the anti-air." Anakin ordered before turning. "Admiral, you have the space battle."

"Yes sir," Yularen answered with a nod. "I will keep you informed of any developments."

XXX

**Supreme Chancellor's Office, Coruscant**

Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Leader of the Galactic Republic, Commander-in-Chief of its Grand Army, secretly Dark Lord of the Sith and by extension leader of the Separatists who now fought the Republic. He was watching the developments of the war in his personal office, observing how the war was changing. _And such a lovely, carefully cultivated war it is._ he thought briefly, allowing himself to have a brief moment to enjoy his imminent victory. The pieces were falling into place. The Jedi would soon be perfectly vulnerable with the galaxy becoming desperate for strong leadership. All it would take was for him to say the words, to use the double-digit number, and across the galaxy, the Jedi would be gunned down by those who had become their most trusted allies, their closest friends. It had taken decades of planning, but soon he would reap what he had sown. Soon, the Jedi would be destroyed.

But he sensed something. Something was wrong nearby, but he could not put his finger on exactly what it was. Security reported nothing, and the planet itself hadn't been threatened in a long time. _Too long, perhaps,_ he mused, wondering if he should consider helping Grievous with another attack of sorts on the capital planet to shake the Republic's confidence. It seemed to need those jolts regularly to be kept moving along with the war effort, if only because those who were actually right (like Bail Organa) tended to push for peace. _At least Organa is a realist, unlike Padme... ah, Skywalker, you chose such a naive, but brave, woman..._

He felt the disturbance again, wondering what was going on. Tapping the holocommunicator on his desk, he called up Commander Fox, the clone officer he often worked with for security matters. "Commander, give me a report."

_"Sir?"_ the clone asked in confusion, _"I gave an update ten minutes ago, sir. Nothing has changed."_

"Nothing at all?"

_"No sir. Senator Greyshade came in to meet with some friends along with several new aides, but that's nothing unusual and everything checked out. With respect sir, can I make a suggestion?"_

Palpatine perked up, raising an eyebrow before deciding it may be good advice from an unlikely source. "Certainly, Commander."

_"I would suggest either laying off the caf for a while, or spend some more time relaxing. I think the war is starting to get to you, sir. Nothing wrong with it,"_ the clone hastily corrected, _"but there's nothing wrong with allowing the mind to take a break when it can."_

Palpatine could not help but be amused. The clone was right, of course, and had he not been a Sith Lord secretly plotting to destroy the Republic and replace it with a new empire, that would have been good advice. But his plan had hinged on too many things, he had to remain as on top of his game as he could. He planned rest, of course, but it was always expendable in order to save his decades of work, especially with a loose cannon like Grievous, Jedi killer as he could be when at his best, running amok with only Dooku for supervision. And he had to carefully balance both ends of the war to ensure neither the Republic nor Separatists used their full power longer than needed to keep the war going on further.

Still, he knew that even one mistake at the right moment could destroy his entire plan in a heartbeat. One critical victory that he could not reverse... and of course, the constant risk to the boy he planned to have as a new apprentice: Anakin Skywalker. _Though,_ he mused as he considered his options to sway him, _that apprentice of his own will need to go. Maybe Grievous can have some 'fun' with her..._ Yes, he liked that plan. The efforts of the Jedi to console Skywalker, if done in their usual high plane mystic way, could easily be another blaster in his already well stocked cache. _Yes, Yoda's advice would certainly push a grieving young man like he is to the edge. 'Celebrate' the fact she's one with the Force..._ He chuckled faintly as his mind played the scene in an almost cartoonish fashion before answering the clone. "Thank you, Commander, I appreciate the candor. You are dismissed."

_"Happy to provide, sir. Commander Fox out."_

XXX

**Bespin Orbit**

"Alright Blue Squadron, report in." It was not a full squadron, recent losses and injuries left them under strength, but they were still quite capable pilots.

_"This is Swoop, Blue Two standing by."_

_"Jax here; Blue Three standing by, all systems green."_

_"Ready on Four! Kickback standing by."_

_"This is Icebreaker, Blue Five is a go."_

_"This is Blue Six, Sick checking in."_

"Blue Leader to Fleet Command; Blue Squadron ready to launch."

_"Affirmative,"_ Yularen answered from the bridge. _"You're all clear. Good hunting."_

"Keep me updated where you need me, Admiral." Ahsoka said as she gently upped the throttle on the engines, the astromech in the socket beeped, a translation of what it said appearing as text on one of the cockpit's side screens. She smiled, "Don't worry, R7, what could go wrong?" R7-A7 tweedled a remark about bad luck.

_"Aw yeah, been wanting to take my cold out on something!"_ Sick exclaimed over the comlink as the V-19 Torrents took off after the Eta-2 _Actis_ Interceptor in red with white and green accents.

_"You been playing with the chemistry set again?"_ Icebreaker asked. _"I know you're the cause of the common cold, but..."_

_"Quiet you whiners, we got a job to do!"_ Swoop cut in, _"Now charge lasers and form with your wingman."_

_"Or wingwoman."_ Jax commented with a bite of sarcasm before he paused and adopted a kinder tone. _"Sorry Commander, just being grammatically correct."_

_"Isn't that more a case of semantics than..."_ Icebreaker started to comment.

_"Stow it you two!"_ Swoop cut in, _"We're taking off!"_

"Loosen up, Swoop, might as well get it out now." Ahsoka answered with a grin as she pushed the throttle on the fighter and guided it out of the ventral hanger of the cruiser, Blue Squadron forming up with the rest of the Open Circle Fleet's fighter and bomber squadrons as they cleared the ship. "Shadow Squadron, you ready?"

_"This is Broadside, glad to have you with us again, Commander. We got a full load of ordnance to drop on the flagship. Speaking of which, the Admiral figure out which one it is?"_

"He didn't, but he'll keep us informed. Until then; blow up each bridge and hope we get the guy?"

_"I like that plan. More dead Seps and scrapped clankers all around that way. I'll check with the Admiral to make sure he doesn't have any plans..."_

XXX

_**Indomitable**_** Hanger Bay**

"We all ready, Rex?" Anakin asked as he stepped onto the gunship. Rex and the rest of the 501st's Jet Trooper divisions were all onboard, as was Fives since his ARC training included rocket pack usage.

"Yes sir," Rex answered, his hybrid Phase I/II helmet freshly cleaned from a brief time of R&R on Coruscant. "Everything's ready to go, and once there's a hole we'll be inserted."

Anakin nodded and tapped his comlink; "Admiral, the 501st is ready."

_"Affirmative. General Kenobi?"_

_"We're ready."_ Obi-Wan answered from the gunship he was on. _"Tell Ahsoka to cover the gunships once we deploy."_

"So," Rex asked. "What do you think of the situation?"

"Well," Anakin admitted, "as long as Ahsoka can keep any Vultures off our tail, we should be able to get down fairly easily; Hawk's one of our top gunship pilots for a reason."

"Thanks, General!" the clone pilot called back from the cockpit, "Just doing my job for you rockjumpers!"

Anakin chuckled, "Just don't fly into any, Hawk, I had enough sand for a lifetime on Tatooine."

"If he does that, that'd be a one wouldn't it?" commented one of the newer, more quirkier 501st clones, Dice, with a resulting groan from the rest of the soldiers.

XXX

**Cloud City, Bespin Upper Atmosphere**

Scythe threw himself to the ground as the battle droids marched forward, gripping his DC-15A and fumbling to reload it. _Funny, who'd of figured we'd be out of ammo on the place we get so much of it,_ he bitterly mused before coming around and opening fire on the constant march of battle droids moving towards their position. Havoc came up next to him with his Z-6 Rotary Cannon, which was smoking at the ends of the six barrels from constant usage. "Eating up ammo here, sir!"

Scythe nodded as he threw his last electromagnetic pulse grenade over into the horde, "The shots counting?"

"Hard for them _not_ to count with this many clankers!" he answered as a nearby clone trooper took a blaster bolt to the groin then another to the head, dropping dead. They were in trouble, and they all knew it.

"Make the shots count, we just need to hold on long enough for the big wigs to get here!" Scythe responded as Pulsar grabbed a downed soldier's mortar and started lobbing the thermal detonator shells into the droids. What he would give for an AT-TE. Or ten.

"Watch it, STAPs!"

The flying droids were coming in for a strafing run, clone troopers diving out of the way of the incoming shots and trying to shoot back. One of the STAP pilots was shot in the back and the STAP crashed into the ground, but the others were coming around for another pass.

XX

**Bespin Orbit**

"Two on your tail Icebreaker!" Ahsoka warned as she turned her fighter to cover the clone pilot being chased by a pair of Vulture droids.

_"I can't see the blasted things! Can someone get him off of me?"_

"Bank right, I'm coming up to help."

Icebreaker broke to the right, leading the two Vultures right into her guns as she held down the trigger. A stream of blaster fire shot forward and caught the first Vulture droid, setting it on fire as its fuel cells were penetrated. It ignited and exploded, the second Vulture catching its former wingman's wing to the front and another set of blaster shots to ensure it stayed dead. Ahsoka flew her Eta-2 up next to Icebreaker's fighter and took a look, "You're all clear, Icebreaker. Looks like your shields caught most of it, but I'm seeing some smoke from your left stabilizer."

_"Thanks for the assist, Commander. R3, lock it down."_

Yularen's voice cut through the chatter, _"Commander, we are in position to send in the gunships. Blue Squadron is to cover the gunships and provide interference. Gold Squadron, cover Shadow Squadron as it targets the Separatist ships."_

"Understood, Admiral. Blue Squadron, form up on me." She got a chorus of affirmatives and overheard Broadside making a comment on the radio about it being time to blow stuff up. She took a moment to observe how the battle was unfolding, noting that Shadow Squadron had already started laying into the frigates while the heavy batteries of the _Venator_ cruisers were focusing on taking out the gun batteries of their opponents. The right cruiser of the formation, the _Guardian,_ took a hit that got through its shields and pounded a crater into its underside, but overall the damage was minimal from the glance she got. She could still sense the deaths of the crew caught in the explosion in the Force, however.

_"So,"_ Swoop asked as they flew over the _Indomitable_, _"Where's the larties?"_

The ventral hanger bay of the cruiser opened and the gunships began to take off from it, fully sealed to preserve oxygen until they got into Bespin's atmosphere. Blue Squadron fell into formation just under and ahead of them, ready to intercept any Vulture droids that wanted to make a play for the transports.

As they entered the atmosphere, Ahsoka could make out the smoke rising from the city._ And here's thinking it's a beautiful place,_ she mused as the sensors began to beep.

_"Blue Squadron, we got Vultures dead ahead! Take 'em out!"_ Hawk shouted as a group of ten Vulture droids took off from one of the outer platforms. Ahsoka turned her fighter towards the nearest Vulture and pulled the trigger before the targeting computer got a full lock, trusting her instincts and the Force. The shot went to the left of the Vulture, but it turned straight into the line of fire and spiraled out of control, falling down into Bespin's gravity well to be crushed in the center of the gas giant. _Not a good way to go,_ she thought briefly before an impact off of the shields and R7 howled as more shots sped by. She glanced over her shoulder and spotted two Vultures on her tail. "Cut the engines!" she ordered as she banked to the left. R7 did so, and the two Vultures overshot. "Back on!"

The droid complied and she shot after the two fighter droids, who rose their heads to glance at each other stupidly before blaster fire from her own fighter and Swoop's tore through their hulls and send them spiraling down to join the first Vulture in Bespin's crushing pressures. Swoop's Torrent came up next to her, "_Nice one, Commander."_

_"Sick, you got a Vulture your tail!"_ Jax warned.

_"I can't see... I see him! Icebreaker, get him off of me!"_

_"No problem..."_ Another Vulture exploded into shrapnel in the distance.

_"Thanks, Icebreaker."_

_"This is Hawk; we're clear. Thanks for the assist, Blue Squadron."_

"Happy to help." Ahsoka answered, "Want us to make a run on the city?"

_"Negative, Ahsoka, we'll be fine."_ Anakin cut in over the com channel. _"Get back to Yularen and help him out. It won't do us any good down here if the Seps can just fly their frigates down into the atmosphere and shoot the city down."_

"Got it. Alright Blue Squadron, check in and report damages; we're heading back to the fleet."

_"This is Blue Two, took a few hits. Right gun is at nine-seven percent, but that's the worst I got."_

_"Blue Three has all systems green. Shields took it all."_

_"Blue Four, R2 unit is out but everything else is green."_

_"Blue Five checking in, R3 locked down the damage I took."_

_"Blue Six is good to fly... ACHOO!"_

_"Bless you."_

_"Cut the chatter Blue Five."_ Swoop cut in, _"We still got a job to do."_

XXX

**Cloud City Airspace, Bespin's Upper Atmosphere**

The LAAT/i gunships sped into the city, explosions from the ground based J-1 Semiautonomous Proton Cannons blowing flak into the sky shook the gunships. One particularly close blast knocked Anakin into the nearby bulkhead, dizzying him briefly. "Lot of chop!" Hawk explained, "I can get you a couple of blocks from the Government Center, but you'll have to make your way on foot to get there!"

"Just get us as close as you can," Anakin ordered. "Obi-Wan, you get that?"

_"I got it, Anakin. Cody's men are going to work on clearing some more room so we can land the rest of our forces once the gunships get back to the ship while we break through to Tango Company."_

"Sir," Fives cut in, "I'll go with the commander and help him out."

Anakin nodded. An ARC Trooper would be extremely useful to Cody's mission. "Tell Cody that Fives is going to be with him."

_"I'll let him know of the good news. See you on the ground."_

The gunships made their final descent, their blasters firing and Hawk let loose a flurry of missiles into the AAT tanks at the landing zone before the doors opened and the light went green. Anakin gave Rex a nod before leaping out of the craft, Rex's call of "Go! Go! Go!" echoing behind him as he let the Force flow through him, feeling the control it gave him as he slowed his descent down into the city. Igniting his lightsaber as he landed, he slashed a B2 Super Battle Droid in half vertically before bringing the blue blade up to parry blaster bolts from the regular B1's as they stupidly realized they were being dropped on. Grenade launcher rounds and DC fire sailed down from the other troopers coming out of the gunship, scything into the droids and taking them down. Anakin glanced over to see Obi-Wan with a slight smirk as he tossed aside several battle droids with a simple gesture, using the Force to throw them into the walls hard enough they collapsed. Rex's landing was not the smoothest, but the clone trooper rolled to his knees and threw an EMP grenade into a group of B2's, shutting them down permanently. A glance around and he saw the clones were finishing off the droids in their immediate vicinity.

"Well," Obi-Wan said as he shut his lightsaber off. "I think we're doing well. Cody?"

"On it, sir. Boil, Wooley, get your squads together."

"Sir yes sir!" the two troopers echoed. Fives gave Anakin a nod before joining Cody while the rest of the 501st started towards the government center.

XXX

**Supreme Chancellor's Office, Coruscant**

Corporal Dennis Alistair never quite got used to standing around in his armor. The Senate Guard's equipment was always too ceremonial for a man experienced in the military, but he had gone astray as far as Senate Guard tradition. Although his father had served in the Senate Guard, he did not apply directly to it like so many other Guardsmen, instead choosing to serve in the Kuati Security Forces to gain some actual experience before putting his name forward for the Senate Guard. He had grown used to holding the pose as a guardsman, but even then it was dull holding it for hours on end. _Maybe mum was right; I should of stayed in Kuat,_ he thought briefly when he saw several lost looking aides walking towards the Chancellors office, two men and a woman. With an inward sigh, he held a hand out as they approached the door, mere feet away. "Halt. The Supreme Chancellor is not to be disturbed."

"Oh, this is the Supreme Chancellor's office?" one of them, a woman who sounded a bit too Kuati for his comfort said in confusion. She did not look like any of the Kuati delegation to the Senate, and he knew all of them by heart from how many times Senator Danu had invited him to watch discussions of home and him expressing worries with other senators like Senator Amidala or Mothma about Palpatine. Unbidden, the latest summery came to his mind: _Shipbuilding orders giving Kuat a lot of credits and bolstering its economy, but the Chancellor's powers are becoming too dangerous._

"Excuse me, ma'am," Dennis cut in, "But may I see some identification? I don't recall seeing you in Senator Danu's..."

He never got a chance to finish. One of the men drew a blaster from beneath the folds of his robe and shot him square in the chest, the silenced bolt barely audible beyond the hallway. His armor took most of the shot, but it was far too powerful to belong to a holdout blaster. He did not intend to allow a second shot if he could help it, storming forward and crashing into the woman, decking her as his rifle was still slung by its holster on his back. _No time to draw. End this now! _He whirled around and caught the man who shot him, but then a second, third, and fourth shot caught him in the back, sending him to the floor as it burned through the ceremonial robe and his armor under it, leaving him barely conscious on the floor.

"Let's go, before the alarm sounds!" the man who shot him said, and he heard something metallic click onto the door, followed by the sound of a breaching charge detonating.

XX

Palpatine looked up as his office was breached, two Senate Guards just outside the last door into his office moving to attack but being gunned down by concentrated fire. _Well, this is unexpected,_ he mused, glancing under his desk to make sure the lightsaber he had hidden was still there. He did not intend to need it, but it paid to be prepared. He calmly tapped the alarm so Commander Fox's men knew to get themselves down there. _Now I wouldn't mind them breaching my windows,_ he mused as he recalled the misaimed rescue when Cad Bane made his move on the Senate a year ago. The door was blown open by multiple breaching charges. _Wise,_ he thought as he slipped his hand to the lightsaber, _they came prepared._

In came three figures, all wearing the garb of a Senatorial Aide with a scheme matching that of Grayshade's aides. He slipped the lightsaber into his sleeve and slowly clapped. "Impressive. Most impressive. But I feel that your efforts are wasted, assassins."

"Shut up and die," the woman said and took a shot at him with her blaster. Palpatine, at long last using the Force to actually exert himself rather than simply mask his presence, rolled to the side and out of his chair, slipping the small lightsaber into his hand as more blaster shots arced behind him and he hurried towards the private chambers. He intended to hold out as long as possible before resorting to his lightsaber. He heard exasperated comments from the other two conspirators as they followed, and he closed the door behind him...

...only, to his surprise, for the two male assassins to get in before it closed. _Professionals, it seems._ He thought as he realized that help was not coming in time. He could sense the dying Senate Guard at the outer door crawling his way in, but Fox's men were too far, and not for a lack of effort. _Damn the location of the security center,_ he thought as he knew he had no other options. He reached out through the Force, igniting the ruby red lightsaber and deflecting the blaster bolts before Force Choking the two conspirators. "Fools," he said angrily, angry at having to delve into such powers so soon, knowing that hints of it would now be known to the Jedi for his last resort. Then he saw two blinking objects on the assassin's chests and the Force warned him of imminent danger. Immediately he let go of everything and leapt backwards as far as he could, attempting to shield himself with both distance and the Force...

XX

**Jedi Temple**

Yoda was meditating, and could sense the sudden surge of the Dark Side. The door opened, "Master Yoda! There's an attack on the Senate building!"

He opened his eyes, and nodded. "To the Senate Building, we must go."

XX

**Senate Building**

Dennis crawled forward, rifle held by its barrel in his right hand as he crawled into the office past his two dead comrades, and he saw the female conspirator taking guard outside. Forcing himself up to a kneeling position, he readied the rifle and took aim, firing at her. She ducked from the blaster bolts speeding past and returned fire, Dennis barely ducking in time to avoid blaster bolts to the face. _Come on, you karking clones, get your asses in here!_ he thought as he pulled himself up to fire again when an explosion rocked the door the assassin was guarding. She smiled.

"The Tyrant is dead!" she called to him, "The galaxy will no longer be plagued by his rule! Surrender, guard, and you'll see a freer galaxy!"

"Surrender _hell_!" he answered, gritting his teeth and hoping his body had enough in him to stop this madness, "_For the Republic!"_ He forced himself over and charged, his body screaming for rest as he stormed the assassin's barricade. Surprised, she took a shot which caught his shoulder guard, causing him to take a slight stumble before he tackled her to the ground and knocked the blaster away. She snarled and drew a knife, plunging it into his chest. Pain shot through his body and blood clouded his vision as the two struggled when he saw the red blip under her 'senatorial' garb...

"For the Confederacy," she answered back before revealing a detonator in her hand.

The last thing Dennis knew, he was flying out of the Senate Building with flames following him. He did not even know that he hit the side of the building.

XX

Palpatine could not believe it. He, Dark Lord of the Sith, Master of the Dark Side of the Force, was dying. And he was dying in the most _ignoble_ way possible: burns from the bomb itself and gaping chest wounds from a mix of shrapnel and how he landed over his office furniture. _No... this... this can't be!_ he thought before cursing silently his first reaction being classic drama. He would not simply die and let all of his plan fail. He still had the Clone Army, and the Jedi's foolish trust in these slaves of the Republic. He looked at his communications console, disappointed to see that the blast had damaged it. He only hoped it still had the power. He typed his access code into it, before breathing into a recorder, "Send to all GAR commands... execute... Order Sixty-Six."

With the fatal order spoken, he collapsed and died.

XX

XX

On an LAAT/i Gunship hurrying towards the Senate, Master Yoda felt a sudden surge in the Force. A sudden darkness lifting. Chatter over the clone's comlinks spoke of the Chancellor's office having multiple explosions. Yoda did not know what it was specifically, but he could sense change was in the air.

XX

**Bespin Orbit**

_"Commander Tano, you there? Commander!"_ Swoop was calling into the radio, trying to wake her. She could hardly hear him, disoriented by the sudden shift in the Force. _"Stang, don't tell me you just died on me! Sir, you there?"_

She could not describe the shift in the Force. It felt like something had been sucked from her. Yet with it gone, there was a new clarity. She was not ready for it. She blinked, noticing that she was still in the fighter's cockpit and there was still a battle to win.

_"Bloody hell, Rex is gonna kill me if I let you die on my watch. Blue Leader, come in!"_

"I'm alive," she answered groggily, putting a hand on her forehead. "Just... there's been a disturbance in the Force."

_"Anything that'd help us?"_ Jax asked.

"I, I don't think so."

Yularen cut in; _"Commander, are you combat able?"_

"Yes, Admiral. I'm ready."

_"Good. Shadow Squadron is about to bomb the flagship. Cover them."_

"Got it, Admiral. Broadside, Shadows ready?" she asked as Blue Squadron turned to rendezvous with the Y-Wing squadron.

_"Always up for sending clankers out to the void!"_ Broadside answered in his usual cocksure manner.

XX

**Confederate **_**Providence**_**-class Cruiser **_**Acquirer**_

**In Orbit over Korriban**

Dooku was meditating when he sensed it. A vacuum in the Dark Side of the Force. _Is my master dead?_ he wondered. He knew one day he would strike his master down, as was the Rule of Two, but he did not foresee it happening by another's hand without his knowledge. A logical side calmly intervened, telling him not to assume too quickly. He rose before walking into the communications suite.

"Sir," his tactical droid T3-X4 said, "There are no current transmissions."

"I am aware of that. Acquire a private line to Codename Rule."

"Yes, Count Dooku." The droid entered the orders and left. Dooku waited. It would not take Lord Sidious long to answer, and if it was in vain then he would accept it. His caution was justified, and knew his master would want to discuss the vacuum in the Dark Side. _If he still lives..._ he reminded himself in the vain hope that, perhaps, he needed not become Dark Lord of the Sith by killing his previous master.

His call was never answered.

XX

**Cloud City, Bespin**

Obi-Wan was cutting down a BX Commando Droid with a vibroblade when it happened, the last of the squad of droids which had ambushed the 501st. He sensed it, the sudden vacuum in the Force as a great power in it died. At first he feared for Anakin or Master Yoda, but then he sensed darkness. Darkness far too powerful to be Dooku or even the newly returned Darth Maul. Then he sensed light, as if a darkness had been vanquished. He glanced to Anakin, who asked: "Did you sense something, Obi-Wan?"

"Yes." He answered with a frown, "A great disturbance in the Force."

"What kind of disturbance, sir?" Rex asked.

"As if a darkness is being lifted." Obi-Wan answered. "I sense a new clarity..." before he could continue, however, an AAT fired its main gun towards them, hitting a building nearby and the falling debris crushed one of the 501st's soldiers. Cursing his lack of focus in the battlefield, Obi-Wan leapt towards the tank with Anakin behind him. The two landed on opposite sides of the tank, Anakin leaping to the top while Obi-Wan cut its side guns off and stabbed the bottom, cutting into one of its engines while Anakin cleared the tank's interior before coming out. They could make out the government building, and with a simple nod, the 501st charged into the fray, spearheaded by Rex and a pair of Jedi Knights.

XX

Scythe's holotransmitter beeped and (cursing the timing) he pulled it out; "A little busy, sir, what..." he stopped dead when he saw who it was. Chancellor Palpatine, looking like he was going to die.

_"Execute... Order Sixty-Six."_

Immediately, Scythe's mind was locked down. Moral objections, logical reasoning against it, common sense, it was all disabled. All he had now was an objective to complete. _Damn worst timing ever,_ he commentated mentally. "It will be done, My Lord." he answered. "Pulsar, Havoc, your squads with me!"

"Yes sir!" the two troopers answered grimly, bringing their squads with them. They all knew what they were about to do. _Tell me that the kid isn't with her master;_ Scythe thought, _I don't want to shoot the girl who saved our asses..._ But, if she was there, she would die too. It was part of his orders. He saw General Kenobi and General Skywalker tearing through the droids, Rex and the other 501st soldiers behind them blasting away with grenade launchers and DC-15's. He knew Rex would understand, and lined up the shot as Kenobi and Skywalker approached his position, a mere thirty meters.

The group opened fire.

XXX

XXX

XXX

**End Chapter**

**Endnotes: (These are just notes on any chapter, usually commentary on parts or further explanations. Not needed to understand things later, but can be handy for my POV on a matter.)**

* The _Indomitable_ was not Anakin's flagship in the series, only in the later novels. In the series, he used either the _Spirit of the Republic_ (Yularen's original command according to the movie's novelization), or the _Resolute_ (for the series, coming into commission for Bothuwai in the Season 1 episode 'Downfall of a Droid'). However, the _Resolute_ was destroyed in the episode 'Nightsisters' in Season 3 by Ventress, though it was more mission killed and left listing rather than outright blowing up into vapor like the _Executor_, so a good chunk of the crew could escape, including Yularen. The _Indomitable_ was Anakin's flagship in the two novels, 'Gambit: Stealth' and 'Gambit: Siege' but was not specified to be a _Venator_-class ship. He was using it due to the _Resolute_ being in for repairs. Wookieepedia assumes that the _Indomitable_ to be a _Venator_ and this had not been contradicted, so it is brought into service here as the Open Circle Fleet's flagship. And if it ever is contradicted by canon, then Anakin got another ship that was named the same thing.

* One of the bugs from the series I had was the clones constantly referring to female Jedi as 'Sir'. This suddenly makes a lot of sense if you read one of the Codex entries from The Old Republic, where it details that due to its vast diversity, the Republic Military uses the title 'Sir' for all superior officers regardless of species/gender/rank in order to remain consistent and have a relatively neutral honorific. This makes sense as some species in Star Wars (such as the Vratix from Thyferra) have evolved their genders unusually (such as the Vratix, which switch between 'male' and 'female' depending on age). I'm mildly curious if Bioware was working with the TCW crew or the other way around with that little detail, it seems like the kind of thing Bioware might do. Either way, if you see clones referring to a woman as 'sir', it's just Republic military regulation being different than that of ours.

* The choice of removing Palpatine via bomb was... well, while waiting for after the Battle of Coruscant and modifying it so Anakin doesn't show up in time/something else just opens up a can of worms that's too difficult, and hamstrings me with some plot elements, like the CIS not having a figurehead anymore. I doubt half the galaxy would be willing to follow Nute Gunray, after all. Killing Palpatine pre-Revenge of the Sith allows me to keep most of the important CIS figureheads around while still giving me room to work.

* I was weighing between using R2-D2 in the space scene as Ahsoka's astromech rather than R7-A7, figuring Anakin would want the best keeping Ahsoka alive if he's not flying, but decided to stick with the one she used at Ryloth back in Season 1. So Artoo is just helping the crew reload or something back on the _Indomitable_. Maybe fixing that AT-TE that always breaks down even though Anakin never even stepped anywhere near it. Besides that, it makes sense that Ahsoka has a 'primary' astromech she uses when flying a fighter instead of constantly switching based on mission circumstance.

* Speaking of _The Clone Wars_ having multiple R7 units, they use the handwave that it's shorthand for longer designations. They're R2 model units, but have longer designations which are shortened into R7, R4 etc. I'd of preferred the naming scheme used in the _X-Wing_ novels based on traits (IE, Whistler) or their designation (G8, or 'Gate'), but whatever, can't have everything.

* Although the series introduced the Z-95 Headhunter as the standard clone fighter, I always felt the Z-95 was more of a fringe vessel. It's not to say the Republic isn't using it, I mean, the Z-95 was around since before _Phantom Menace_, but I'm not going to borrow it except for being used by non-CIS/Republic factions. The Y-Wing, though, kinda fit the role of a bomber that the Republic needed for its fighters since ARC-170's are more like X-Wing's in role while the V-19 is more like an OSHA compliant TIE Fighter. V-Wings easily fit the A-Wing/TIE Interceptor role, though, and they will start making an appearance.

* As of writing this, it is chronologically to be nine days after the ending of Season 4 of _The Clone Wars_. I am unlikely to do a rewrite in response to Season 5, but I will probably try to incorporate a few allusions to it. I have not chosen a specific in-universe time for this story, but I have a vague definition: Towards the end of the original timeline Clone Wars where ARC-170's and Eta-2 Interceptors are becoming standard, but V-19 Torrents and other such vehicles are still in use.


	2. Chapter 2

_"Statement: Overwhelming odds is also a good tactic, master. There are few Jedi that can long hold their ground against a hundred attackers all firing at once… or being turned on by their own troops."_

- HK-47, Assassin Droid built by Revan, to the Jedi Exile in regards to how Jedi should be fought.

**Chapter 2: Brother against Brother**

**Immediately After Order Sixty-Six's Execution**

**Bespin Orbit**

Broadside frowned as a transmission came in onto his console. "Grate, can you boost it?" His astromech tweedled a negative and he sighed. All he could hear from it was the word 'execute' before static claimed it and he returned to bombing the living daylights out of the Separatist ships. "Contrail, loosen up, you're too close!"

_"Copy that boss, breaking left."_

XXX

"Any luck with the signal we received?" Yularen asked the communications officer.

"No sir, all we got was the word 'Execute' and the number 'Sixty Six'." the non-clone officer responded. "We are also receiving an emergency code from Coruscant about the Supreme Chancellor..."

Yularen felt his stomach churn, and when he heard the contents he was glad he had decided to skip breakfast that morning for the unbecoming incident it had spared him when he went to the refresher later.

XXXX

**Cloud City, Bespin**

Time dilated and became slow like a still pond as it happened. DC-15A blaster rounds, the rapid rotary churn of a Z-6, even the partially muted pulse of a DC-15x sniper rifle. Obi-Wan, a superior defensive combatant as always, whirled into action to parry the bolts as they were fired, no reaction time lost in the new clarity. The Z-6's large quantities of fire were the most absorbed, rounds sailing back to the attacking clones and hitting their arms and legs for primarily nonlethal hits, but there were simply too many shots coming his way, and Obi-Wan fell to the ground groaning in pain as his body was charred by the heated plasma.

Something clicked in Anakin's mind, the thought that Obi-Wan, his _mentor_, was now on the ground and dying clicked and he entered a tunnel vision with one objective: _stop them_.

"Nooooo!" He roared, not a wail of self pity but an angry growl of an angry animal, and using the Force he leapt at the enemy clone troopers and swung his lightsaber through the nearest troopers as he landed. _No, no, no, no, no..._ the thought kept pulsing in his head as he let his lightsaber talk to the men who had just shot Obi-Wan. Other troopers turned and attacked him, but he ignored the blaster bolts that he failed to bat aside as more turned to attack. He had only one goal: _Leave nothing standing_. He did not know how many of the clones with green markings were actually threatening Obi-Wan, but he did not care. He would keep fighting until Obi-Wan was safe. Until Rex was safe. Until the galaxy was safe... _Until Padme is safe..._

He whirled around, severing a DC-15x and bisected the trooper holding it vertically, the two halves collapsing when several bolts slammed into his back and his lightsaber fell from his hands. He fell forwards, head banging against the metal plating of the flying city's courtyard. He whirled around struggled, trying to get back on his feet and could see a clone tending to Obi-Wan between the tunnel vision his rage had left him in. _He'll... make it. Now... to... cover him..._ he tried to push himself up again, but two clones in blue marked armor held him down, one with medical gear, the other without.

XX

Rex saw it before it happened. Blaster bolts from Scythe, Havoc, Pulsar, their squads. The hailstorm of blaster bolts shot into General Kenobi, knocking him to the ground as he gasped in pain. Then he heard the animal roar from General Skywalker as he leapt like a mad man, tanking several blaster shots outright before he cut down several of the Troopers at once in a whirlwind. In an instant, Scythe, Havoc, and Pulsar were dead, severed into separate limbs by Anakin's attack, and he started cutting his way through the rest with a speed that made Wookiee Berserkers look like cadets fresh into the basic training.

"What the hell!?" Kix shouted.

"Did the General just kill Scythe?!" Appo exclaimed in horror, jumping back in recoil.

"You gotta be karking kidding me!" Jesse shouted.

Then Anakin went down, the members of Tango Company instinctively whirling around to shoot at him. Anakin parried several bolts back as Rex sprinted forward, ripping his helmet off before the General was overwhelmed by fire and collapsed backwards, raging at the attacks. "STOP!" he shouted, "EVERYONE STOP! _You're shooting at the Jedi!"_ Rex leapt over the barricade and tackled a Tango Company trooper. "Stop shooting, Ox! He's a Jedi!"

The Tango Company trooper looked at him, "Sir... Order Sixty-Six has been executed. The Chancellor ordered it."

Horror gripped Rex's heart as Kix was tending to Obi-Wan, stabilizing him with bacta injections while Anakin, short one lightsaber, was being held down by Coric and Ross, the two trying to keep the heavily wounded general from killing himself trying to tear into Tango Company. _No, it can't be, not now!_ he thought. Immediately the mechanical side of his mind latched onto Order Sixty-Six.

He let Ox go, and the trooper sagged to the ground as the confused 501st and Tango Company troopers not involved tried to hold the droids back. Order Sixty-Six. The order to execute all Jedi. In the back of his mind, however, there was a side arguing against it. It was armed with logic, but its strongest weapon was in right and wrong. _A soldier doesn't follow orders blindly. A soldier knows the bad orders from the good ones,_ it told him as he looked at the Generals. He was the highest ranking clone there. Yet the conditioning of the Kaminoan clone masters was strong. It was in his genetics to obey orders without question.

But, what the Kaminoans could not plan for was experience, and he suspected they feared the affects of it. Despite all their attempts, there were clones stronger than their will breaking methods, and Rex was one of them. He seized on that thought, that he could break the conditioning. Then he thought of Ahsoka, realizing that if Order Sixty-Six had gone through she would be in danger. It gave him clear cause: a superior officer was in danger, and his duty was to warn her. He smacked his cheek trying to hit his comlink, briefly forgetting that he had thrown his helmet off trying to stop the firefight from erupting at all between Tango and the 501st. He took a more immediate solution and hit his wrist comlink. "Admiral Yularen, this is Captain Rex! We have had an order misfire! I repeat, contingency order misfire!"

_"Does it have anything to do with the Chancellor?"_ Yularen asked worriedly.

"Everything." Rex answered, the details of Order Sixty-Six playing out in the voice of Ko Sai, the clone master that had echoed in his mind when they were being indoctrinated on Kamino. _In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established._

Yularen paused a moment, _"Then... we have just been informed the Supreme Chancellor is dead. He was bombed by a Separatist plot. Order Four is in effect."_

Rex paused, stunned. Something was wrong. Why would... unless it was an accident set off by the bombs? Bomb damage would explain why he did not get the message other than a bit of static from a failed transmission that he had not mentioned to the Generals. He had dismissed it as normal static from a clone's helmet comlink being destroyed. "Yularen, give me full comm throughout the sector. All GAR units that you can get me to. May want to chip in your authority too."

Yularen paused again, before answering with genuine concern: _"Captain, what's going on?"_

"Order Sixty-Six was misfired to Tango Company, and the Generals are down! It may of spread further, we need to stop this now!"

_"Understood, I can get you to our units here and I'll forward it as I can._" There was a pause as Yularen set the frequency._ "All Open Circle Fleet units, listen up. Captain Rex is speaking with my authority as well."_ It was Rex's cue.

XXX

XXX

**Bespin Orbit**

Ahsoka sensed the attack. She sensed the wounds to Anakin, the... the _rage_ flowing through him. She nearly crashed into the frigate before a danger sense shook her awake and she pulled away, Shadow Squadron bombing the life out of the frigate as she pulled clear of the explosions. _"Blue Leader, you alright? Second time now."_ Swoop asked.

"Something's wrong on the ground." Ahsoka answered, "Admiral, do we have word on the ground?"

_"Generals Skywalker and Kenobi just reached the Government Center, I'll have an update shortly."_ He stopped talking in the command channel for a few moments before coming back on. _"Captain Rex is on the line."_

She nodded, a silent hope that they were alright down there echoing in her mind as she turned her attention to the three Tri-Fighter droids that had just destroyed Shadow Eleven's Y-Wing, sending blaster fire into the droid fighters over the next half a minute before they were sent burning into the frigate below, weaving her interceptor between the return fire. Then Yularen's voice cut back in. _"All Open Circle Fleet units, listen up. Captain Rex is speaking with my authority as well."_

Rex's voice then echoed through the comlink as Blue and Shadow Squadrons pulled away from the bombing run, clear of droids for the moment. _"This is Captain Rex. We have had a misfire of Order Sixty-Six. I repeat, misfire of Order Sixty-Six. Do not execute the order under any circumstance. I repeat, do not execute Order Sixty-Six! Generals Kenobi and Skywalker are wounded from a misfire reaching Tango Company. Do not execute Order Sixty-Six!"_

"Rex?" Ahsoka asked as she switched to Rex's personal frequency, "What's going on? What's Order Sixty-Six?"

Rex answered, the sounds of blaster fire and explosions in the background. _"It's a GAR emergency order for if the Jedi turned on the Republic! Only the Supreme Chancellor can order it; it shouldn't of been stanging fired!"_

"What?!" Ahsoka shouted, "We have an order for that?!" She could not believe what she was hearing. The _Republic_ had a set of orders installed into its system to kill the Jedi on the spot? _Why? Why would the Republic need such an order?_ She was having a hard time believing it, nearly slamming into a group of Vultures before her senses kicked in and she pulled away and behind the droids, engaging them with a sustained volley of laser fire as Swoop covered her from the ones which dropped behind her.

_"Admiral, we need to get the Generals out of here, they've been shot to pieces."_ Rex said as an explosion echoed from his end.

_"Agreed,"_ Yularen answered, _"Commander, you will need to shift to the ground and take command and clear the way for medical evacuation. Blue Two, take command of Blue Squadron."_

"Understood Admiral, I'm on my way."

_"See if you can't strafe an anti-aircraft battery or two while you're at it;"_ Rex commented before grunting loudly after an explosion on his end. _"We'll hold here."_ With that, Rex cut his transmission.

_"Don't worry about us, skipper,"_ Swoop said before she could ask, _"We'll keep things clean up here. Form up, Blue Squadron, we're going in again!"_

"Thanks, Blue Two. May the Force be with you."

_"You too."_ With that, she parted ways, turning the fighter towards the planet itself.

XX

**One Standard Hour Since Order Sixty-Six**

**Grand Convocation Chamber**

**Galactic Senate Building, Coruscant**

"The Separatists must pay for this!"

"Who will lead the Republic now?!"

"What idiot let this happen!"

"_**GRAYSHADE**_, you jackass!"

"Death to the Separatists!"

"We're doomed!"

Senator Bail Organa sighed, putting a hand to his face at the pandemonium in the Senate. _And so I see who many of my colleagues are. No wonder we needed someone like Palpatine to kick these people into shape._ He stood, activating the repulsorpod and letting it float out into the Senate. "Senators, representatives, we must have order! We will not solve this crisis with shouting without need! We must follow the procedures established by the Senate for this crisis."

Mas Amedda, standing alone next to the Chancellor's chair nodded before speaking: "Senator Organa is correct. The Senate guidelines shall be followed. Order Four from the Grand Army's contingencies has been activated in light of the Chancellor's death. A successor must be chosen during this interim period."

"Power grabber!" a senator shouted at the Vice Chair. Bail sighed, whispering to one of his aides quietly as they did not have any privacy screens anymore after Palpatine had them removed.

"Unfortunately, the Vice Chair is correct. He is in command until we elect a successor."

"Yes, Senator." the aide answered. "Would you like me to review the GAR contingencies?"

"Do so, just so we are not unprepared." Bail said with a nod before turning back to the fur ball in the Senate, catching a glimpse of Padme looking worriedly towards the crowd. She gave him a brief nod, and Bail looked to Amedda. The Vice Chair gave him a nod, and Bail understood what he meant. _Speak. The Republic's people respect you as a statesman._

Clearing his throat, Bail turned the microphone of the repulsorpod on. "Senators, the recent events must not be forgotten, but neither can we look towards them and forsake what is occurring in the now. Yes, this plot has struck a blow to us, but the Republic has withstood them before. We survived the loss of the Supreme Chancellor in the waning days of the Great Galactic War three and a half thousand years ago! We have survived the worst that has faced the Republic so far, and we shall do so again. I move forward that we elect nominees for a new Supreme Chancellor, to begin the process now so that we are weakened for as short a time as possible..."

He was cut off when Senator Darsana spoke suddenly, "I have been given reports from Bespin, Ando Prime, and Kalaan, with similar incidents coming in around the galaxy. Providing the images from Bespin for the Senate's review of new data of the situation."

As Darsana argued with Amedda for permission to show them, Bail's aide whispered worriedly: "Senator, are you aware of an Order Sixty-Six?"

Bail paused, frowning. He had not read that order in the GAR's command structure. "What does it."

Suddenly, the screens of every repulsorpod showed the images. Helmet camera footage of GAR standard issue Phase II helmets showing images of Clone Troopers attacking Jedi. Bail saw the entire scene unfold: Obi-Wan and Anakin charging to rescue the downed Tango Company, and were shot for it. The footage from that helmet ended when Anakin bisected the poor clone vertically. The follow up images were from other planets. On Kalaan, the Jedi leading a fierce defense of evacuation transports was shot in the back by her Clone Troopers, local Kalaanite soldiers firing back in confusion and friendly fire suddenly becoming the word of the day there as more droids marched in on the confused defenders, routing them and breaking the defensive line. Bail stood there, stunned as his repulsorpod latched back into its position. He turned, seeing a familiar and aged Jedi wearing plate-like battle armor, a pair of soldiers in uniform similar to that of Alderaan's own peacekeepers standing at the edge, hands behind their backs as the Senate Guards looked at them uneasily.

"General Kota?" Bail asked, frowning, "I thought..."

"I sensed a disturbance in the Force, and now it seems I was correct. There was something wrong about the Clone Army. Let me talk to the Senate, Senator Organa," the Jedi asked, "Let me convince them that the Republic needs to separate from the karking clones before they doom more of us."

"General," the aide said boldly, "The clones may not have had a choice. If Order Sixty-Six was..."

"Order Sixty-Six?" Kota asked with a snort, "If the clones were real men, they wouldn't of followed such a stupid contingency."

"How did..."

"One of my men actually read the kriffing things, something we all should have done. Only the Supreme Chancellor could order it, and there is no countermand order or authority attached. Now let me address the Senate, they need to hear wisdom..."

"Wisdom, Master Kota, comes not from ignoring sacrifice." said another voice. Yoda had walked onto the increasingly crowded repulsorpod. "Down you must stand, Master Kota. Down you must stand. Hate not the clones."

"Master Yoda, with all due respect, those _things_ just shot a large number of Jedi in the back, some of them right as they were _saving_ their lives!" The uproar in the Senate chamber was reaching an apex, loud shouts of anger directed towards the Kaminoan representative, Halle Burtoni, who was trying to defend her fellow cloners that they simply followed the Republic's specifications for the army.

"Perhaps," Yoda said, "but deeper this mystery is. Perhaps in their origin? Senator, address your colleagues. Address, I will, Master Kota's righteous fury, and the danger it may lead to."

Bail nodded and Kota stepped off the repulsorpod, allowing him to return. He caught a glimpse of a terrified Padme, realizing that with Obi-Wan and Anakin injured... _Oh hells,_ he realized, _they very well might be dead! But... Yoda did not mention it? Surely he would have felt it if they did die..._ his line of thought was cut off with a rather biting comeback in the Senate.

"I am trying to say, my _intelligent_ colleague, is that we cloners have merely done what was ordered by the Republic. If you are dissatisfied with your clones, we could certainly make a new batch that is more to your liking..." Burtoni retorted, sarcasm deeply cutting through her answer to the Senator from Gerrard Five.

"Senators!" Bail cut in, "The events that have occurred are, unfortunately, in our very own command structure. Have your aides look for an Order Sixty-Six. It has only one authority: The Supreme Chancellor." He inhaled, waiting for the firestorm. And it came hard, loud accusations hurled towards him, quickly challenged by those who felt the better course was to investigate. He only hoped reason prevailed.

XXX

**Cloud City, Bespin**

_"Commander, we've cleared most of the anti-air, you can land in Sector Seven."_ Cody reported as Ahsoka was approaching Cloud City.

"Understood, Cody. Any word on Masters Skywalker and Kenobi?"

_"Captain Rex reports that both of them are currently stable, but they won't be walking anytime soon. We're clearing what's left of the anti-aircraft so Yularen can call in the rest of the army. Rex is holding at the Government Center, and they really could use a Jedi about now..."_

"I'm coming in to land, Cody. While I'm flying by, do you need an airstrike?" She could see the city now, R7 updating the map of enemy positions for her.

Fives cut in with blasters echoing on his end of the channel, _"Actually, yes, air support would be helpful! We just ran into a tank column and could use a five-by-five until I can steal a droid's rocket launcher or something! Uploading the data now."_

As she came over the city airspace, bursts of black smoke erupted in the sky. The Separatist cannons were opening fire as she dived towards the coordinates, dodging the interceptor between the bursts of flak shells and the buildings. Coming up behind a group of men in white armor, she saw the AAT tanks and let loose with the guns, a torrent of laser fire cutting through the tanks, whose armor held briefly before fire erupted from their side ports. She could hear the clone's on the ground cheering as the tanks exploded.

_"Thanks for the help, sir!"_ Fives called, _"We'll meet you at the landing platform."_

"No problem, Fives. I'll see you there."

A minute later, she saw the platform and brought the craft to a landing, spotting a Holonet News droidcam floating around. _Figures that they're around,_ she thought in irritation. None of the clones liked how the news networks were in full propaganda mode, editing footage of the battles so people only saw droids being blown to pieces and not seeing the cost to the clone troopers during the battle, never seeing the stinking mess of corpses scattered across the street and the smoking ruins of whatever city they had fought in, only certain images of it after when they went for the heroic sacrifice angle. _All they want to show is heroics. Alright, fine, its propaganda, it's supposed to be messing with the truth a bit to get people behind the war effort, not that we should have to. And it doesn't diminish the amount of suffering the troopers are going through in these battles._

As the fighter touched down with a light jerk, she pulled off the restraints and pushed the cockpit open. "R7, can you fly it into a holding pattern nearby or get it back to the _Indomitable_?" The astromech twiddled an affirmative and she gave it a nod. "Thanks, buddy." The droid accessed the controls and took off. As the fighter left, she sensed something. A dark presence lurking within the cargo containers that had lined the landing pad's walkway. Reaching for her lightsabers, she pulled them from her belt but did not ignite them, holding the blades to the side as she turned.

A man in black robes stepped forward calmly, his skin a dry, pale white and his face obscured by a hood. He looked up to her and she could see the signs of dark side corruption and brought her blades to bear in a ready stance. _One of Dooku's new Dark Acolytes,_ she thought quickly as she recalled the report that a group of 'Null' commandos had obtained from behind enemy lines regarding Dooku's replacement for Ventress. The Acolyte looked at her, standing eleven meters away from where she was and laughed. "A mere youngling? My, the Jedi must be desperate. What a waste of a warm body to throw such a child into the fray." He drew a single bladed saber from his belt and ignited the red blade. "Still, Count Dooku will likely make me a full Sith by bringing the so-called Hero with No Fear's youngling to him... alive, or dead."

She gave a slight smirk, sizing him up as she had been trained to do as she ignited her lightsabers and answered, "I'm not going quietly, so if you win it'll be the latter."

He chuckled, "Very well then."

She leapt forward, bringing her dual wielded blades down together as he blocked them, expertly deflecting her attacks as she slid side to side. He was a good swordsman, she had to give him that. He could counter every blow she made, but he had made none in return, simply holding his guard and stepping backwards. But that to her made no sense: If he intended to strike her with the Force, why wait until she was further away from the edge? If he pushed strong enough, all that would be left of her in a standard hour or two would be a mangled mass of pulverized flesh somewhere in the clouds from the gas giant's pressure. She was shaken from her analysis when the Dark Acolyte finally made a counterblow, which she parried with her offhand lightsaber. It was a deceptively simple strike as his next blow was Force Lightning at point blank, shocking her and throwing her backwards into a shipping crate, which she hit with a grunt and fell about her height to the ground, her lightsabers knocked away. Grabbing her main blade with the Force, she brought it up in time to parry the second blast of lightning, the green lightsaber catching the electric shocks and she expanded her awareness, lifting a nearby crate with the Force and throwing it towards him. He raised his lightsaber and cut it in half, soft foam packaging falling out along with wisps of smoke as the two halves clattered away.

He leapt forward and she rolled towards him, coming up behind him and with a single stroke would have bisected him, but he managed to bring his blade behind him quick enough to catch the blow and turned, beginning an attack of his own, forcing her back steadily. She recovered her other lightsaber with the Force and the two continued a dance of attack and counterattack.

As she leapt up and forced him onto his back, parrying her blades and visibly gritting his teeth when he shot her under the blade with a burst of Force Lightning, knocking her away again. Anticipating her landing, she was able to retain her grip on her lightsabers as she crouched on impact and stood to face her opponent. He stood up and held his hand out, Force power running along it as she suddenly felt her throat being forcefully closed before she could counter. Instinctively grabbing her throat and shutting her lightsabers off to avoid cutting her own head off, she stared at him as she tried to shove the telekinetic choke off. He smiled darkly as she tried to throw off his telekinetic grip when blue bolts streaked towards him. Collapsing to the floor as the Force Choke was released, she looked up in time to see a missile streak towards the Dark Acolyte and blast him away.

"You alright, Commander?" Fives asked as he reloaded a stolen Separatist E60-R missile launcher while several other troopers kept firing blaster bolts from their DC-15 rifles. The Dark Acolyte recovered despite his shredded face and brought his lightsaber up, parrying bolts to the side when Fives fired another missile which the Acolyte tried to stop with the Force. Then the missile detonated because of the Force Push, blasting the man to the edge. Ahsoka leapt towards him, using the Force to increase the length and speed of her jump so she could reach him and swept her twin blades through the Dark Acolyte's torso like a pair of scissors. A brief pink mist erupted from where she cut and the stench of death leapt towards her nostrils as he was cut in half. The upper half of his body fell down into Bespin's atmosphere, while the legs and his severed hands dropped onto the platform.

"I'm fine," she finally answered. "Thanks, Fives. How'd you hit him with that thing? You were pretty far and missiles don't lock onto organics very well."

"Rolled a five, probably." A clone trooper with dice patterned onto his armor commented. A chorus of groans came from his fellow troopers.

XX

**Bridge, Republic Cruiser **_**Indomitable**_

**Bespin Orbit**

Yularan stumbled as the final wave of concussion missiles from the last Separatist frigate crashed into the shields of the cruiser. Reports came in that shields had held except for several engineering compartments, they were still counting the wounded and the special weapon was locked on with the ventral hanger opening.

"_Admiral, this is Commander Cody. We've taken out the anti-air, get the other Larties down here."_

"Understood," Yularen said. "Contact the hanger, tell them to deploy everyone as soon as we finish this."

"Yes sir!"

"Fire at will, ensign." Yularen ordered, stepping up to the front of the bridge to look out the viewport and observe the carnage of the last frigate as Shadow Squadron bombed its bridge out, and the _Indomitable_ unleashed its surprise weapon. A beam of blue light shot out from the opened ventral hanger as the Self-Propelled Heavy Artillery piece that had been moved there fired at the cruiser, scything into the weakened ship. The hull melted off, secondary explosions from the ruptured cannon banks tore the ship apart even further than it already had been. The Republic starfighters pulled away from the frigate and began hunting down the last of the Separatist Vultures and Tri-Fighters as the _Indomitable_ turned away from the debris so that the gunships could launch. Yularen made a mental note to thank Skywalker for the idea of mounting SPHAs in the hanger when he saw him, it worked extremely well as a finishing touch.

XX

**Grand Convocation Chamber**

**Galactic Senate Building, Coruscant**

"I nominate Senator Ask Aak for the position of Supreme Chancellor!"

"Him?" another senator exclaimed, "Your kidding me, right?"

Bail sighed, putting a hand to his face. Trying to get anyone to agree on a nomination was like trying to herd nexu, and about as lethal.

"_I nominate Senator Bail Organa."_ The voice cut cleanly into the crowd as everyone turned to look at Senator Dorne, many surprised at who just nominated who. The two had always been adversaries in the political arena despite both being some of the most loyal and honest Senators in the Republic. They respected each other as people, but had been in conflict politically. Dorne had opposed the clone army despite being a militarist, and the sudden nomination caught the Senators off guard.

"What?" a senator ask. "Why? He's part of that pacifist movement that you oppose!"

Senator Dorne stood up. "Senator Organa seeks peace, yes, but he has always been the most level headed of their ranks. He has not forsaken that the Republic must have some military abilities, and has done his part in the war effort. He is an honest man and understands how to lead. If there is a Senator who could be trusted to lead the Republic now, it will be him."

"Senator?"

Bail stepped forward in the pod so he was fully visible. "If the Republic wishes me to lead, Vice Chair, I will accept the nomination."

The senate paused, and Mas Ameeda looked to the senate. "Senators," he said, "Are there any other nominations? If there are none, then we shall adjourn for the day in order for time to be taken in this decision, as per the Senate Guidelines."

There were no more nominations.

XX

**Senator Organa's Apartment, Coruscant**

"Supreme Chancellor Organa?" Mon Mothma asked as if she was testing the ring of the full title. "I would not have expected this, but Senator Dorne was right. Of the candidates, you are one of the best suited to lead the Republic."

"And, maybe, end the war through peaceful means." Padme added in, though she clearly had her concerns elsewhere. "There are still members of the Separatist Senate..."

"Padme," Bail cut in. "I want peace as much as you do, but the Republic will be galvanized by the assassination. Worse, I fear that this Order Sixty-Six will also result in the Senate doing actions which will leave the Republic vulnerable."

"What are you saying, Bail?" Mothma asked.

"What I am saying is that yes, we should work for peace, but in the current environment it is simply not going to happen. We need to let it rest for a few days, and let the wheels of the Senate turn if we wish to bring it up again. And I do not think we want Senator Darshana or Ask Aak to gain the seat of Supreme Chancellor. If we attempt to push peace now, while the Senate is riled into another war frenzy, we will simply give them enough ammunition to deadlock the Senate at the worst possible time." He sighed. "I want peace as much as you do, but this is not the moment. By the time the election occurs, the Republic very well may not resemble what we are familiar with."

"I need to get more information. I need to find out what's going on at Bespin." Padme said, "If you'll excuse me?"

"Go," Bail said, "And if you can talk to them, wish them a swift recovery on my behalf, I may not get a chance to do so until after this election."

She nodded and left. Bail turned, "Now, we must contact other senators and rally support…" the doorbell range, and 3PO walked in.

"Senators, Senator Dorne is at the door. Shall I admit him?"

"Please." Bail said, again silently wondering how Padme could put up with the machine. "I want to ask him why."

The protocol droid turned and came back in a second later with the Senator hailing from Taris. He glanced at the others and sighed. "Awkward, I know. You want me to tell you why I did what I did."

"Yes, your reasons would be enlightening." Mon Mothma said, leaning forward.

"In short, Senator Organa is the best choice. I listed many reasons to the Senate, but I also had another reason. He is one of the few Senators who actually _goes_ to the frontline, he knows the horrors of the Clone Wars. He has also worked to aid the Republic actively in this war capacity, he is one of the few who still hold the ideals of the Republic in his heart in a position of power." He inhaled. "Other militarists will destroy the Republic in their efforts to win the war, with a hefty side bonus for themselves of course. If it must come to self destructing the Republic to win, I would prefer someone who will not forsake the ideals of the Republic so easily and does not have their own pockets in mind."

The senators glanced at each other, then Bail asked. "How many of your colleagues will support your nomination?"

"A number of them will, but the fringe extremists will oppose you because you will not go far enough in their mind. In particular, Ask Aak believes you are 'cozy' with the Jedi and in their proverbial pocketbook. Proverbially." he added as Mon Mothma gave him a deep frown.

"They would only pick someone like Ask Aak anyways, so no loss." Bail said with a nod. "Thank you, Senator Dorne."

"You're welcome, Senator Organa. However, I have one thing to ask if you become Supreme Chancellor."

Bail was instantly on guard. This sounded like a ploy to him. Throw support in, and then ask for one thing in return. "I'm listening, Senator."

"I want you to review the GAR command structure. For the Republic's sake, Senator, we have _kids_ leading troops into battle! I don't care if they're Jedi, almost none of those Padawans are old enough to be mature commanders, even if they are better than some of our non-clone officers and older than most the troops they're commanding."

Bail leaned back, surprised that this was what he asked but not surprised of the sentiment. Senator Dorne had been one of the few who opposed Palpatine's mandatory enlistment of all Jedi, regardless of age, into service as the Republic's military leaders once again. Bail knew that it was a move needed for official purposes due to the natural order that often came up when Jedi and Republic Trooper fought together and that most Padawans would remain with their masters, but he knew there were problems with it. _Just like everything else in this galaxy_.

"I will, Senator." Bail answered. "If there are contingencies like Order Sixty-Six, we need to look at our military organization and ensure that there are no more traps hiding for us regardless, which I will be doing from my position as soon as I can get into contact with my agents. But for the meat of your request, may prove impractical to make drastic changes on short notice."

Dorne seemed to get that Bail actually was sincere, and nodded.

XX

**Cloud City, Bespin**

Rex looked up as he saw the gunships coming in and cracked a smile. "Reinforcements on the way!"

Following that call, Y-Wing bombers sped towards the droids and dropped a payload of proton bombs onto the droid tanks, shrapnel and scrap metal flying across the metallic courtyard as tanks were melted to slag or outright vaporized. LAAT/c craft came in bearing AT-TE walkers, dropping them as they practically landed before taking off, firing their guns to keep suppression up as the six legged walkers brought their array of guns to bear and their heavy armor to shield the survivors. More clone infantry landed at the government center, medics deploying to help the wounded while troopers with heavy rocket launchers moved up to target the surviving Separatist tanks and dwarf spider droids.

Rex brought his twin blasters up again, scything blaster fire into the B1 droids that had come in close, sending them to the ground in heaps of scrap metal. "How're the Generals doing, Coric?" he shouted as he ducked into cover to reload.

"They'll live!" he shouted back as a stray blaster bolt sailed over his head and hit one of the courtyard's statues. "But they're still on the edge!"

Rex nodded as a super battle droid came into point blank range and shot it straight in the closest thing it had to a head, knocking the droid backwards with a fist sized hole in it. He pulled an ion grenade, affectionately called a 'droid popper', and hurled it into the next group of SBD's marching forward, disabling them permanently.

"_Rex, you there?"_

"Right here, Commander," Rex said as he answered his comlink, "Where are you?"

"_Coming in on the flank with Fives and some more AT's, you want some help?"_

"I'll take any you can offer. Let's end this."

XXX

**Four Standard Hours Later**

**Republic Venator-class cruiser **_**Indomitable**_

**Bespin Orbit**

The Battle of Bespin was over relatively shortly after that. The arriving 501st and 212th troops had, in a rather ironic twist for the battle droids, swarmed the city with numbers and demolished the few droids left, rescuing the captured civilians and setting up small outpost positions to ensure nothing happened until reconstruction efforts could be started. However, the news was not all good. They had casualties, as was normal in war. The Open Circle Fleet's casualties totaled to two squadrons total of V-19 Torrents and a half dozen Y-Wing bombers, almost a whole platoon worth of clone troopers (both 501st and 212th), about fifty crewmembers of the _Indomitable_ and the _Guardian_, as well as a single AT-TE walker and the command crew for that walker.

Worse however, was that the remains of Tango Company was scheduled for court martial by the Senate, even though the surviving troopers were not involved and were busy dying at the hands of droids. Few of the soldiers were left, the once proud company reduced to a little over four squads. The choice to court martial them had angered the clones of the Open Circle Fleet and its connected ground forces the most. Ahsoka could not even sit in her quarters to meditate without passive anger spilling from every clone trooper on the ship intruding into it.

"Who thought that they could try a whole company of troops, even if there's less than half left?" Boro, a Torrent Company trooper of the 501st, asked angrily.

"Senator Burtoni, apparently. She's real keen on making sure everything is nice and fine with continued Republic purchases of clones." Ahsoka answered as she recalled Yularen's quick political update when she got back on the ship. She was in the wardroom despite being too young to get a drink. And yet she was older than the clones who were considered 'old' enough to have alcohol. Hooray logic. "The way those cloners treat you… it's wrong."

"Thank you for the obvious," Fives answered dryly. "And now there's people openly suggesting we all be 'decommissioned' because of the incident."

"Yeah, and we all know _that_ is going to end badly for us." Nax answered with a growl as Checkers held two fingers like a blaster to his head before depressing his thumb like an old flintlock slugthrower going off, briefly sticking his tongue out like a rather cartoonish corpse. "Do they know how serious the longnecks took making sure we were all carbon copies?" Nax continued unaware of Checkers' motions.

"If they try to do that, the war will go three way. There's no way we'll just accept being shot because of the Republic's contingencies or some puffed up big-wig's orders, Umbara settled that issue." Rex growled angrily, his fist clenched tightly on the table. "I'm as loyal as any trooper, but we're not droids. We're men. If they want a genocide on their hands, they better raise troops quickly to carry it out."

"There is actually discussion of that going on. Raising troops, that is. General Kota has been taking advantage of Order Sixty-Six to push for the Republic to train conventional troopers, and there's reports that there are already volunteers, a lot of them." Cody commented, gripping his glass and nearly shattering it. "Like they can get a competent army in time to stop Grievous and his clankers. Rex, you said something about a Captain Pellaeon?"

"Yes, the _Leveler_ is joining the Open Circle Fleet to act as a base for our ground units so we can load up on more starfighters in the _Venators_, and he raised his concerns to his superiors who listen about who we are. He might not be the most popular guy, but the men he works with respect him and everyone's positive opinion counts." The clone captain answered, "But besides that, we have another problem. Without General Skywalker or Kenobi, we're now pretty much leaderless."

"Leaderless?" Ahsoka asked in surprise. "We have Admiral Yularen. We have _you_."

"Maybe," Rex answered as he mulled it over visibly. "But as far as the public is going to be concerned, the Five-oh-First and Twenty-Twelfth just had both its leaders shot in the back by clones, and with how the propaganda boys have been acting about them, it's a real blow to throw in on top of the Chancellor getting blown to pieces. Things are going to change. And fast. Civvie morale is going to go down the 'fresher and I have a feeling Dooku and his scum are going to press the attack. Raids on under defended systems to make us look weak, the usual garbage."

Coric walked in, shaking his head. "Captain, Commanders; News. The Generals are going to be fine, but they'll be out of action for a month at least."

"A month?" Cody asked in surprise. "General Kenobi had told me that Jedi had healing trances and the like to speed up bacta. Are you sure?"

"It would help if they had not suffered serious internal injuries. Kenobi's guts were nearly spilling onto the courtyard from how many blaster bolts he took, and Skywalker overexerted himself trying to rage into Tango Company, a quarter of which he killed himself. That overextension compounded the blaster bolts he took, making them worse than they should have been." Coric answered grimly. "They'll live, but they'll be floating in a tank for the month, possibly in rehab for longer."

Ahsoka nodded quietly when Nax chirped up as something came in on his datapad. "Gentlemen, I just got an update. We're heading back to Coruscant. The Generals are going to be dropped off to the Jedi Temple, and General Yoda wants to speak with Captain Rex as well as Commanders Cody and Tano."

"Did he say for what?" Rex asked. Ahsoka could sense the surprise rippling off of him.

"No, but I suspect it has something to do with the inquiry against clones. As the closest clones to the Republic's top two, our 'Negotiator' and our 'Hero with No Fear', you have a position to speak on the matter of clones."

_Savvy trooper, isn't he?_ Ahsoka mused before she nodded. "Then I'm probably to speak to him about assignment in the meantime. A Padawan can't go masterless for a month." She hoped she was not transferred away from Rex and the rest of Torrent Company. They of any division of the Grand Army needed Jedi to help their numbers in the war. Not because of any lack of skill, to suggest such would be a disservice to some of the Republic's best. No, they needed it because they went into some of the hellish battles of the war, battles which most normal people would balk at. She knew that Anakin had always found it amazing for these clones, people normal in comparison to a Jedi, would be willing to go into situations he could walk through with the Force.

Then again, the clones were hardly normal, from a certain point of view.

XXX

XXX

XXX

**End Chapter**

* What can I say, HK-47 was right. If you are able to get a metric ton of blaster fire sailing towards a Jedi, they will go down. That's the one thing B1 Battle Droids do right; they're cheap and spammable enough that they don't _need_ to be great, they can just plug the enemy with numbers. The starting battle of 'The Hidden Enemy' highlights how they're perfect at those kinds of jobs. B1's don't need to be awesome in battles where you just have to fill an area with bodies and all you have to do is pull the trigger to fill the other guy's face with blaster bolts.

* The reason for using Anakin and Obi-Wan for the fodder of Order Sixty-Six instead of C-List fodder like Naat Reath (the female Padawan from the Republic campaign in _SWGB:_ _Clone Campaigns_) or Voolvif Monn (wolfman from the original 2D _Clone Wars_ series) was specifically because they _are not C List fodder_. Them being critically injured gave the accidental discharge of Order Sixty-Six more weight. They were people _the Republic effin' loved_. Anakin isn't the Republic's poster boy as the 'Hero with No Fear' for nothing, so him being wounded by Order Sixty-Six would really weigh against the use of clones since said Hero with No Fear was shot by the ones he was busy rescuing.

* Writing the scene with them being shot up had some changes. At first, I just told it from Rex's point of view, but since Anakin and Obi-Wan will get so little screen time due to floating in a bacta tank/being in rehab, I decided to do two perspectives. One from Anakin which came first, and then one from Rex. I later on added in Anakin's big no (it's a Skywalker tradition, after all), but unlike certain ones *_cough_*blue ray*_cough_*, it actually fits and is meant for a different circumstance instead of being a direct sound reuse.

* Dice is actually one clone trooper I think I'll enjoy using the most. He basically hangs a lampshade/comments on what would actually be mechanics from the game getting an appearance. Namely, Fives 'rolled a five' (out of a d6) with a rocket launcher (which normally only threatens infantry in the mechanics itself on a 6) and enabled Fives' unique ability, "All Fives". If I ever was part of making an actual Star Wars game, I'd see about using Dice as a character for tutorials and explaining mechanics so none of the other characters have to break the fourth wall. And hey, maybe it would be the right era too.

* Rex being friendly with Pellaeon (yes, as in Gilad Pellaeon) was established in _No Prisoners_, by Karen Traviss and probably one of the best of the TCW tie-in novels if only because it was reasonably balanced (with Traviss toning down her Jedi hate), and completely deconstructed the entire Clone Wars by the end of it, without overall changing things or causing issues. Case in point: the first thing Pellaeon does when Ahsoka comes onto his ship is _tell her to put some karking clothes on,_ and in the book's climax, the lady they rescue sums up the Clone Wars like this: A child (Ahsoka) is in one turret, blowing the lights out of the droids alongside the obviously battle hardened man (Rex) in the other turret. And the child the older of the two. As for Rex knowing Pellaeon, it was probably a case of bumping into each other while at some official Republic watering hole and they chatted a long while. The specifics were never given.

* Other than this... Republic Bureaucracy at its finest in addition to Bespin. Maybe Bail Organa will have a better time keeping them in line than Palpatine did, since he'll actually be trying to win the war.

* Also, Whisky-08 (AKA Just a Crazy Man), NO, I am not going to be updating Cloned Tiberium, stop asking me. I've moved on from that project and for good reasons.


	3. Chapter 3

_"This incident is going to be troublesome, Senator. While it was part of the original request, the simple minded fools of the galaxy will fail to look at it properly as a Kaminoan would. You must prevent the Republic from pulling out of our cloning program suddenly in a misguided move because of this incident. If needed, we take this 'Tango Company' and euthanize it to please the Republic, claiming battle damage such as that parasite incident on Geonosis caused defects that need to be fixed now that we know of them. In addition, find out about this CT-7567, his defiance of the order and efforts to spread this defiance is troubling since basic clones like him are meant to obey orders. He will be useful for us saving face, but he does begin a troubling trend. It is possible that the Jedi, with their overabundance of compassion, have lead the clones to believe they are more than just another soldier for the battlefield." _

- Kaminoan Prime Minster Lama Su to Senator Halle Burtoni, in regards to how to handle the damage control of Order Sixty-Six and its effects on the Kaminoan cloners.

**Chapter 3: Changing of the Guard**

**2 Standard Days since Order Sixty-Six**

**Approximately Noon (Galactic Standard)**

**Ventral Hanger Bay 3**

**Republic **_**Venator**_**-class Cruiser **_**Indomitable**_

**Coruscant Orbit**

Ahsoka folded her arms as the hologram came into appearance as the cruiser was approaching the orbital holding position to offload its transports while waiting for a chance to go down into the atmosphere to land in dry dock. The Republic had been hemorrhaging damage control over the last two days, but it was still far too early to tell how badly things were going to get. In the few days, however, anti-clone sentiment had skyrocketed beyond the roof. Holonet News polls showed that many in the Republic were behind the idea of raising a non-clone army to replace the majority of the Grand Army. Already many proto-militia organizations were forming and petitioning the Republic to join the GAR, and were being accepted and told to wait for instructions to which boot camp to go to as General Kota was pulling up every old and even half-functioning Republic training facility he could find for a crash course in military training. And of course, the Kaminoans were hammering on the Republic to not 'let inferior quality bred of ignorance' guide them to cancel their contract with the cloners, making the political situation tense. These questions of policy, however, were difficult to answer without a Supreme Chancellor sitting in the Senate.

And a new Supreme Chancellor was being elected as they spoke. _Hopefully it's Bail Organa_, Ahsoka thought quietly as the hologram of the voting played. Everyone not on duty was watching it, and the audio was playing at duty stations (albeit at greatly reduced volume) because of how much hinged on the events. The entire fate of the war could be hanging in the balance of politicians, or at least that was a sentiment going around. And that was one sentiment which the fighting men of the Grand Army, clone and non-clone alike, did not appreciate.

And sitting in the salvaged freighter _Twilight_ (pulled out of mothball because the other shuttles were needed to carry the wounded from Bespin), Ahsoka, Rex, and Cody were watching the proceedings as Fives walked up the ramp with R2-D2, who gave a low and mournful whistle. Rex hit the table.

"We should be doing something." Rex said, "If nothing else, we should be checking on the generals."

"Nothing we can do, Rex," Cody answered as another vote was tallied, "Remember? Doctors ordered that they not exert themselves at all. No contact until they are in a more stable condition."

Fives put his helmet on the other table and leaned against the wall and gestured to the hologram. "So, they finally pulling the sticks out of their rear ends?"

"Maybe." Rex said as they got to Senator Amidala, who gave her vote to Bail Organa. "Seems like Organa is holding a pretty solid lead. Least he's seen the war, unlike some of the other militarists who love the cozy armchair."

"Considering what he went through with Master Kenobi?" Ahsoka commented, recalling what he had told her of his chase into a Sith temple alongside the senator while they were busy with Bothawui, just before Artoo went MIA. "I think he's one of the closest senators to the war, and his planet hasn't even seen Grievous' tinnies."

"Never mind being one of those peace Senators." Fives commented with a slight snort. He had never really liked the clique of senators who always pushed for peace, and not because he liked war. He just never saw how the Republic could coexist with the likes of Grievous and Dooku without constantly trying to kill each other. Losing everyone he grew up with, his 'batchers' in clone parlance, had that effect.

Ahsoka's wrist comlink beeped, and she answered. "Commander Tano, here."

It was the _Indomitable's_ air controller. _"Commander, the _Twilight_ will be cleared shortly to leave. Make preflight preparations."_

"Understood." she answered, hanging up and nodded to Rex and walked into the cockpit, powering up the G9 Rigger Freighter. _I never got Skyguy's love of machines,_ she mused as Artoo rolled into the cockpit and began running through the preflight mechanics check while she and Rex started checking the controls.

_"Freighter _Twilight_, you are clear for takeoff."_ Control said two minutes later. _"Have a good flight to the Jedi Temple."_

"Thank you, Control." Rex answered. "Ready, Commander?"

"Hit it, Rex." she said with a nod, and the two piloted the freighter out of the cruiser. Once clear of the ventral hanger, Rex switched the holodisplay on in the cockpit while Cody and Fives walked in, so they could see the final tally of the Senate.

"Well damn." Fives said as the final tally came in and the news anchor displayed the numbers.

XX

**Grand Convocation Chamber**

**Galactic Senate Building, Coruscant**

"The final vote has been cast. We will adjourn for thirty standard minutes in order to confirm the tallies. After which, any missing votes shall be accounted for and the new Supreme Chancellor will be chosen." Mas Ameeda hit the floor of the Supreme Chancellor's podium once with the Speaker's Staff, and the senate adjourned.

Bail Organa inhaled as he walked out, attempting to calm his nerves. The Senate knew the results, as would anyone watching the news with an ounce of political savvy, but it was a formality, one meant to serve two purposes. The first but ultimately secondary purpose was so they could check for voting issues and ensure there was no miscount. The second purpose, however...

"Senator Organa," said a Senate Guard who walked up to him and blocked his passage. "You're presence is required beneath the Convocation Chamber."

He nodded. "Thank you. I will be there shortly." _And now, the real purpose of the adjourning..._ A glance to Mon Mothma and a brief nod told her what she needed to know. The real purpose of the adjourning was so that the Supreme Chancellor elect could enter the office beneath the Grand Convocation chamber and step onto the Supreme Chancellor's podium to be sworn in before the Senate. The tradition came in after more than one elect nearly fell to their deaths crossing from one of the repulsorpods to the podium.

XX

**Five Minutes Later**

**Galactic Senate Chamber Holding Office**

"Senator Organa," Mas Ameeda said with a deep nod as he entered. Standing within besides the Vice Chair was Yoda himself, as he had made it a matter of form to be present to affirm the Jedi's commitment to the Republic. The Sergeant at Arms, leader of the Senate Guard, was also present, as were Director Ishin-Il-Raz of COMPOR, Director Armand Isard of Republic Intelligence, and the rest of Palpatine's old advisory circle.

"Vice Chair, Directors, Sergeant, Master Yoda," Bail said as he inclined his head politely to each of them. "My presence was requested?" _Formal jargon for 'I'm here'_, he silently added.

"Indeed. The Senate has spoken, and you have been chosen to serve as the new Supreme Chancellor of the Republic." Mas Ameeda nodded to one of the lesser known aides, who brought out a large, archaic paper text. He recognized it, of course. The Republic was far too diverse in cultures for any one book, so they had to settle for a measure passed early in the Republic, Amendment B5.

"I understand." Bail said. He was glad he kept his personal datapad on hand this time. He had a speech that he had to deliver, and he had prepared it the night before. He had to get it right.

XX

**Republic G9 Rigger Freighter **_**Twilight**_

**Coruscant Low Orbit**

The _Twilight_ was on auto-pilot in compliance with Air Control. The offloading of so many wounded clones, GAR volunteers who were coming in on everything that was vaguely hyperspace worthy, and ships filled with those who wanted to be there to see the new Supreme Chancellor's speech had jammed the airways enough that everything had to be regulated, meaning they had time to waste. They were still bound for the Jedi Temple, but traffic was thick enough that they would not be on the ground until after the inauguration.

"So," Rex said, "How's this going to change the war?"

"I dunno, Rex, I dunno." Ahsoka answered, leaning in the chair and letting herself sink deeper into the Force's currents before pulling herself from it. There was too much for her to handle at the moment, too much anxiety and too many emotions at once in the city. "How long until the inauguration?"

"Well, everyone's back," Cody said, "and the Supreme Chancellor's podium is coming up. It's Senator Organa."

Ahsoka looked up as the senator from Alderaan looked to the Vice Chair directly, placing his hand on the massive archaic text held by Mas Ameeda as he began to speak.

_"Order in the Senate! Order in the Senate!"_ The Vice Chair paused a moment. _"The Republic is not the rule of a single people, a single culture, but the union of many peoples, many cultures. This text contains the first page of every holy book and creed of every religion, every philosophy within the Republic's borders, a symbol of the Supreme Chancellor's loyalty. Not to his home planet, not to his own people, but to the Republic as a whole. Senator Bail Prestor Organa, do you swear to uphold the law of the Republic in accordance with the Galactic Constitution?"_

_"I do."_

_"Do you swear to honor the principles set forth by the Republic to the best of your abilities?"_

_"I do."_

_"Do you swear to hold your loyalty not to any one individual, planet, or species, but to the whole of the Republic and all of its people, no matter their species, creed, or beliefs?"_

_"I do."_

_"Then, by the powers invested into the Senate by the Galactic Constitution, I name you Supreme Chancellor of the Republic!"_

The Senate exploded into cheers, or at least most of it did. It did not take a Jedi to see many Senators being unhappy with the turn of events. She glanced to Rex, who shrugged as the new Supreme Chancellor stood at the center of the podium and looked up to the Senate, waiting for the applause to die down.

_"Senators, Soldiers, and most importantly, people of the Republic, it is an honor to serve in this capacity, as it was an honor to serve as a Senator."_ Bail Organa began with a slow, solemn pace. _"Had I been able to chose, I would have had more time in this election, more time for words to be spoken, more time for candidates to organize, more time for the people to make their voices heard as to who they wished to lead them."_

_"But times are not so kind. As we speak, brave defenders of the Republic are in battle, fighting for their lives and for the principles of the Republic. As we speak, countless families are torn asunder by the wasteful brutality of war. As we speak, the war grips at all sectors of life. The resources of our worlds are tapped into in an effort to bring the war to an end by military arms. The coffers of our people are sapped dry to fund the monumental costs of galactic warfare. Our people, be they clone or be they non-clone, spill their blood fighting while so many others remain here behind the lines, untouched by this war."_

_"It is a tragedy that we do not understand the costs of this war, that we have forgotten just who pays the price in these conflicts. It is the individual, the people who we represent, who suffer. As we debate over the creation of new armies and the commissioning of fleets, the citizenry of the Republic foot the bill. As we debate over how far to go, cities are destroyed and the inhabitants are left starving and homeless. As we argue over the value of clones and non-clones as soldiers, soldiers die every second to the enemies of the Republic. These are the costs of war. We can no longer go forward in this war simply focusing upon how the Republic's clone army and those few who have volunteered. This war is not a war simply to be fought by a few for the many. It is a war of the many."_

_"The Republic cannot go on expecting that the clones and Jedi will bring victory. The Republic cannot sit idly by as its people hide behind the fragile cocoon of safety that the bulwark of our brave soldiers, clone and non-clone, has built around us. The Republic __as a whole__ must commit to win this war."_ Ahsoka could not help but approve of that. She never understood and could not stand how so many of the Republic's citizens were apathetic to the war, to its horrors, and to the cost not only to the clone troopers but those who lived in the battlefields.

_"Yet, we cannot lose sight of the cost. We must always remember the true tragedies of war. The ones which can never be accounted for. We must go forward with eyes wide to what the Republic has lost by engaging in this war. We must remember that even victory can be our downfall, should be compromise who we are, what the Republic is, in order to win. We must remember that, without knowing it, we ourselves can become our own worst enemies."_ Rex and Fives made uncomfortable noises at that point, being all too familiar with how fast the Republic could shift.

_"The Emergency Powers granted to the Supreme Chancellor are granted by the Senate to be the tools by which the Republic faces its darkest hours, the hammer with which both the Republic wages its war and builds its peace in times of crisis. These powers, no matter the nobility of their intent, must always be watched closely. It is too easy a jump between honest intentions and horrific actions, too easy for noble responsibility to become cruel dictatorship masked as the 'greater good'. These powers were not meant to be used beyond the crisis at hand, but have often extended for a short time to ensure things are settled. I now ask the Senate recognize these facts. I ask the Republic to open its eyes, and not forget the cost of what we still have now, and the costs that come in the future."_

_"War is Hell. The Clone Wars, however, are a new kind of hell. It is a war where a Republic built on the ideals of freedom uses a clone army. An army whose ranks is filled with _slaves of the Republic_. They deserve more than to be simply acknowledged as our defenders and discarded when their service is done. They deserve all the rights that you or I hold. They deserve the right to __chose__, just as we hold the duty to preserve our ideals."_ Ahsoka could sense the mood shift in the clones. The ex-Senator had struck a deep cord, one that particularly was gnawing on Rex and Cody's minds, like they knew something like that before, a brother who had expressed that... Slick.

_"People of the Republic, this is the hour which will define how we shall continue. Shall we continue the path of letting the war simply take its fine from us and leave the unpleasant work to those who fight while we simply continue as if nothing occurs? Shall we do this and forget the cost that comes to our people? Or shall we renew our efforts to restore the peace to this galaxy, through a force of arms preserving the freedoms of those who are oppressed, and through calm negotiations with our fellow persons so that the force of arms may be used as little as possible? The choice cannot be made by one, it must be made by the whole. The choice is ours to make. Let us make it together, and bring this war to an end that will ensure freedom for all in our galaxy."_ He stopped, pausing and ending his speech, which was met by applause from the senate.

XX

**Grand Convocation Chamber**

**Galactic Senate Building, Coruscant**

As his speech was over, Bail inhaled sharply, his heart pounding. He knew what he had said was controversial, but the truth had to be spoken. _We cannot win this war by simply letting the Republic stagnate as it has. We must put all our efforts to restoring peace in the galaxy. May it come through a diplomat's words rather than by the cut of a lightsaber..._

The Senate was adjourned, much to Bail's relief. He knew the work had only just begun, and he had taken a risk by defending the clones, but a risk he felt worthwhile. The clones did not deserve to simply exist to die for the Republic's cause, they had already given more than any in the Republic. _Yet who makes the greater sacrifice; those who only had that one choice, or those who chose to put themselves on the line and miss the comforts of home?_ The thought nagged him silently as the podium lowered. Even if the Republic won a major victory and swept the war quickly, dealing with the influx of able bodied clone veterans leaving the war and almost certainly entering the regular workforce would be a challenge for the Republic to withstand, and would remain a challenge even if they maintained the clone army after the war._ Of course we'll have to maintain part of the army after the war; just because someone signs a piece of flimsi does not mean it is all over. There are always holdouts and extremists._

"Well spoken, you were, Chancellor Organa." Yoda said as the podium fully retracted into the holding office. He opened a slim smile, "Unusual to hear, is it not?"

He chuckled briefly, glad that the ancient Jedi had sensed his anxiety. "Indeed, but it is a transition we all must make, Master Yoda."

"Indeed. Support of the Jedi, the Republic shall have. Waver, we shall not."

"Thank you." Bail said as he lowered his head briefly. "There will, however, be many things to discuss in the near future. I intend to convene Republic High Command as soon as it can be done, there will be some needed reforms."

Yoda paused, giving him a concerned look. "Senator Dorne, you have spoken to."

"Insightful as ever, Master Jedi."

He sighed. "Understand his position, I do, and that of Master Kota. Expansion of who is in the Republic's defense, you seek, yes?"

"Unfortunately, I fear that is needed. And there will have to be changes to accommodate such on a large scale. Besides, how can we turn away all these volunteers if they fit the standard?"

"The Tango Company, you must see to." Yoda stated flatly. "Their fate, in your hands it will lay. Arrive shortly, they will."

Bail nodded. Indeed, the clone company which was most visible as 'traitors' to the Republic would need to be tried for what happened. _But what can I try these soldiers with? They were busy dying as some of their comrades were dragged into this Order Sixty-Six contingency. Having them executed, as the punishment will be for this "treason", would be spitting on the sacrifice of every clone trooper who was pressed into this stanging war. Yet the public wants blood, and the judicial system must be respected._ He shook his head. If the Republic's public wanted non-clones to be their new main defense, he would see such through. He noted rather cynically that soon, many of them who had damned the clones for the misfire of Order Sixty-Six would soon wish the clones remained as the Republic's army, rather than a mix of clone and non-clone. For no longer would the deaths be primarily those bred to fight, but sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, cousins and nephews, aunts and uncles. _And so they will feel the cost that the clones feel._

He hated himself for finding such an ironic justice in the stupidity of war, the waste of it, reminding him that the war could not afford to go on forever.

XX

**Dooku's Palace, Serenno**

"So, the Republic has chosen a new leader." Dooku said calmly as he observed the proceedings of the Senate on the Holonet. It would have been a foolish exercise of espionage to even try and hide a new leader as the Republic needed visible leadership more than anything. He was not bothered by who his new opponent had turned out to be.

"Indeed, Count." Grievous said, standing below the rise before the window where Dooku kept his desk. The cyborg general was flanked all the way down the chamber by Dooku's personal IG-100 MagnaGuards and behind them, BX Commando Droids, "Shall I prepare my troops to show him the costs?"

"No," Dooku said slowly. "An assault on Alderaan is not feasible at this time. You would be deep behind the Republic's lines, and there is no one thing which would unite the Republic against us in this time than an assault on one of its most visible planets, a center of its culture and one of its founding worlds. Unlike your assault on Duro, you would simply be assaulting a planet merely because the new Chancellor hails from it. We will strike the planet one day, but now is not the time."

Grievous growled quietly, brooding for a minute before asking. "Count, was it your actions which caused the death of Lord Sidious?"

Dooku paused, faintly surprised at Grievous' grasp of the Sith ways. _A shame he cannot be an apprentice without the Force,_ Dooku mused before he could stop himself. _Of course, a Sith must be more than the brute he is, a Sith must have finesse and diplomatic cunning._ "No, General, it was not by my hand. This came as much as a surprise to myself as it came to you. Regardless, we shall continue as always."

"Of course, my lord. I have sent you..."

"Yes, the report of our new foundries on Telos has reached me. I take it you have a new offensive in mind."

"Not quite an offensive, Count. A defense turned into a superior offense. We will finish the damage that the clones have already caused. I will make sure that no remnants of the Open Circle Fleet's leadership survives." Grievous seemed all too eager for this plan, which raised his suspicions on the general's true motive in this scheme.

"I take it you intend to draw in what is left of the 501st and 212th and destroy their leaders... or are you after a particular apprentice to add two new lightsabers to your collection?" Dooku idly checked his fingers as he spoke. "A wise strike, to engage a target with its main leaders lost and their morale low, but do not underestimate the leadership skills of the clone officers or Admiral Yularen. Even Skywalker's apprentice has learned a few things on military tactics, and has followed her master's footsteps well."

It did not take a newly crowned Dark Lord of the Sith to tell that Grievous was offended by the implication that a fifteen or sixteen year old was as good a tactician as he was. Dooku did not mean it in that sense, but he did know that she had learned well and while she not as skilled as a fully trained officer, she had learned in the field. _Though, Grievous seems to presume that Yoda will simply send her into the field again. Not without precedent, considering that disaster of a group called the 'Padawan Pack' on Jabiim._ Yet, when he mulled it over, he realized that it may be a very real possibility because of the expansion of the war's many fronts. He turned to Grievous and continued.

"We will observe, and let our spies inform us of developments." He stated simply as a plan formed in his mind. "When we see the right conditions, we shall deploy your trap. In the meantime, you must make a target of yourself to give the Republic reason to send the 501st after you yet again. Go to Kiros, and kill everyone who resists... and more, for good effect." He paused as he considered other options. "Take some of the Zygerrians with you and let their slave catchers go to work. Destroy the Republic garrison on the planet as well, to show that the Republic cannot defend worlds, but flee when their reinforcements arrive and ensure they cannot ignore the lamentations of the locals. Better they have to nurse the wounds than be able to pursue you immediately."

"So be it, Count." Grievous answered. "Any other targets?"

"No, I will leave such to you. Consult me when picking your targets, however, we must use this opportunity to cow the Republic and damage their will to fight carefully." He turned back to the window and looked at the beautiful view of the valley as he thought of his options. "You are dismissed, General."

XX

**Jedi Temple Landing Pad**

"Easy..." Rex said as the _Twilight_ was brought down to land. Artoo had extended the freighter's landing gear, and with a jolt the modified ship landed. "Okay, looks good. Let's shut her down."

Ahsoka nodded to him as they turned off the various systems, glancing back briefly to see Fives and Cody unbuckling on the other side of the door. "So," Fives asked as Ahsoka and Rex stepped into the main room of the ship, "Why was I brought here again? General Yoda only asked for you three."

Artoo beeped a comment about guarding the ship.

"Guarding the ship?" Ahsoka asked, raising an eyebrow at Artoo. "We're on Coruscant..."

Tweedle, bwooo-beep.

"Oh, right. Palpatine..." she glanced to the side awkwardly as she remembered the whole reason for the events the previous two days. Looking up the hanger towards the turbolift, she gave a brief nod to Rex and Cody. "Ca'mon, we can't keep Master Yoda waiting."

The three walked through the hanger where maintenance crews were doing checkups on the Jedi Temple's arsenal of fighters, including both the new _Eta-2 Actis_ models and the _Delta-7B Aethersprite_ used by the Jedi. Artoo and Fives remained with the _Twilight_, talking with the crews as it was pulled inside so they could clear the landing pad for other uses. She let her senses expand habitually, allowing herself to sense the reactions of the two clones behind her. She could feel the underlying anger that had remained constant since Bespin from both of them, the anger at the Republic's sudden turning. Cody's more surface level thoughts were of passive observation, taking in everything he saw. Clean military precision marked his footsteps, which she had grown quite used to as it was a trait in every clone's step to some degree. Rex had grown more on the surface than Cody, however. He seemed to be brooding on something and Ahsoka thought she could sense glimpses of it, more than she could get from Cody, but it was a confused jumble. It was too confusing for her to pick out as they rode the turbolift to the main floor.

XX

Fives moved his piece, confident in his strategy. "Your move, droid."

Artoo gave a mischievous beep before he moved one of his pieces and took Fives'. Realizing what the little clanker had done, he hit the board in frustration. _This is why I don't like playing with droids,_ he thought ruefully as he made his move, taking the piece that had taken his. The game continued before he sighed, conceding defeat when his comlink beeped.

"This is Fives, loud and clear."

"_Fives, its Coric. The Commander with you? I couldn't get through to her."_

"Nah, she's heading to that meeting or whatever with Rex and Cody. Why?"

_"I'm paranoid about how the 2-1B's handled getting the Generals to the ground. Never trust a droid with an organic."_

Fives threw Artoo a dirty look before answering. "No arguments there." The astromech snickered, or at least made a noise that sounded like a snicker to him. "How's the rest of them? Joc going to be alright, and how about Contrail? He wasn't looking too good when we pulled him out of that nearly vaporized Y-Wing."

_"Joc's fine, Contrail will be once he walks it off, though Dice is going to be floating in a tank for a few days."_

Fives barked a mirthless laugh, "Well, maybe he'll stop referencing that weird tabletop or whatever he stumbled onto when he's out."

_"I hope he does, because he's driving us up the wall down here. I think Kix overdosed the sedatives just to get him to shut up."_

"All's fair in brotherly love, huh?"

_"Yeah, just like the Seps using living shields is fair."_ It did not take a clone or Jedi to tell that Coric was bitter about that bit. The droids (or at least their masters) had made it a habit to shoot clone troopers with medical gear first, and more than one intercepted transmission had them casually discussing shooting any clone with medical gear because they could slow the tide of actual Republic deaths, even if the wounds knocked a trooper out of the action for the battle.

"Well, we shoot the salvage droids, so I guess it evens out." Fives finally answered. "Of course, it's not like they're protected by the Convention."

_"And you wonder why I trust a blaster more than some ancient document that no one in the present millennium has signed. Anyways, I need to get going, we're finally getting down to the petty requests for headaches and the like. Maybe Commander Cody was right about how bad non-clones are at warfare."_

Fives smirked, thinking back to one particular rant he had overheard after a near miss by a local militia manning an AV-7 siege cannon that they were given to help slow down an armored assault that they simply lacked the heavy weapons to deal with. The Republic won that battle, but there were several near misses with the cannons manned by the militia that had nearly blown Cody into atomized bits of hydrogen. General Kenobi had simply dismissed it as inexperience with the hardware. Cody had called it plain incompetence.

XX

"Come in, come in." Yoda said as Ahsoka approached the door to his quarters, where he was staring through the shaded windows. She walked in quietly, Rex and Cody following and giving Yoda a brief salute. The short yet ancient Jedi Master smiled to the two. "At ease, be at." Yoda turned towards them and walked forward, the clunk of his walking stick quietly reverberating in the room. She glanced back at the two clones as Yoda gestured to several seats, and everyone took one as Yoda situated himself.

"Sir, you asked for our presence?" Rex asked, laying his helmet next to him as he leaned forward.

"Hmmm. Much there is to discuss." Yoda solemnly explained as he looked to the two. "On trial, the Tango Company survivors shall be. Unfound anger towards them, there is. To all clones, this anger is extending. The injuries to Kenobi and Skywalker, and other Jedi, the public feels obligated to avenge."

Ahsoka blinked. "Master Yoda, are you saying that there are going to be people lynching clone troopers?"

"Hope not, I do, but likely it is." Yoda looked to Rex and Cody. "Tomorrow, the trial is. Speak against the injustice, you two must."

Ahsoka sensed it immediately. A dazed mix of confusion and surprise from the two clones. "S... sir?" Cody stuttered out before gritting his teeth and giving a firm, military nod. "Yes sir." She glanced towards Rex, who was still recovering from the surprise before he sighed, shaking his head.

"What good would it do, General?" Rex asked. "The public seems to have it out for us. What would the words of the thing they hate have on their opinions?"

Yoda smiled, a smile which unnerved Ahsoka as the ancient master looked to her. "Well, Padawan, what would their words have?"

Now it was her turn to be surprised. _What is Master Yoda playing at?_ she wondered, biting her lip uncomfortably before answering uncertainly. "Maybe... to show that the clones are more than numbers? To put faces to their hate, to show them why it's wrong? To show them how alike the clones are to everyone else except for their origin?"

Yoda's smile grew wider and he looked back to Rex and Cody. "Indeed. Droids, you are not. Men, you are. Reminded, the public must be of this."

Rex then asked a question that did not surprise Yoda at the least, though Ahsoka felt she should have expected it. "Sir, what about Order Sixty-Six? Aren't you mad that we have that contingency in us?"

"Anger?" Yoda asked as he raised an eyebrow to the clone captain. "To hate anger leads, and hate to suffering." He paused, "But yes. Anger I did feel. Controlled, however, it must be. Restrained, and dismissed by tranquility. Hold you responsible, I do not. Understand, I do, that deeper this mystery is."

Something began to gnaw on Ahsoka's mind as she idly recalled the briefing on the clone army's history. _What was it that feels important right now?_ Ahsoka wondered as Rex responded to Yoda. "You... you don't hold us responsible?"

"No. The truth of the matter, unknown it is, but innocent you are. Jedi, you did not attack, and few Jedi were injured. The forewarning you gave, however, prevented further tragedies of this contingency." Yoda looked to Cody. "Commander, a close friend to Kenobi you are. Captain, a close friend to Skywalker you are. Hold, you two do, weight in your words. Defended them against your brothers turned against themselves, you did. If not heard, you two are, then great disservice is done to the galaxy."

"Sir, with all due respect," Cody asked, "Do you really think that we can sway minds?"

"Not alone, you cannot. But poisoned, Senator Burtoni has made the public towards you." Yoda explained as Ahsoka glanced between them, the piece of information she was trying to remember finally coming to her. "Show her callous disregard of your personalities, your lives, you will."

"Master Yoda," Ahsoka cut in as he finished. "Wasn't it a Jedi who made the order for the clone army? Master Sifo-Dyas? Why would he place a contingency like this into the Republic, if these contingency orders were part of the clones from the beginning?"

Yoda turned his head towards her and smiled. "The crux of the problem we investigate, you have found. The core of the mystery lies in this question. Why indeed a Jedi would prepare an army with such an order? In light of other contingencies, fairness? Or more sinister a reason, perhaps?"

"But sir, only the Supreme Chancellor could make the order." Cody chimed in. "Why would Chancellor Palpatine do it as his last act?"

Rex nodded. "I'm not a Jedi, but the whole last act usage of it makes me suspicious. There's more to this war than we thought. Palpatine betraying the Jedi as a last act, too many instances of both us and the Seps getting top level intelligence they shouldn't have been able to reach... it feels like this was just a front for something."

Yoda nodded slowly. "Sensed this, we finally have. Foolish, we were to not consider such as the former Chancellor outstayed his term by a wide margin. The cloud of the dark side has lifted. See clearly, we now can. Much is hidden, lying unrevealed, but to light it shall come."

Rex nodded slowly as Ahsoka leaned forward. "Master Yoda, what about the 501st? Are we going to be on furlough until Master Skywalker is able to lead again?"

Yoda shook his head slowly. "Needed the Open Circle Fleet is. Remain you shall, for the trial of Tango Company. But soon, return to the war, the fleet must. Admiral Yularen will command the fleet, as he has before when available you master was not. But command of the ground, falls to you it must, Padawan."

Ahsoka gulped, an empty pit forming in her stomach as she realized the responsibility being thrust onto her. She had come a long way since Christophsis and learned the lessons of war the hard way, but she was not certain she was ready to fully lead not just the 501st, but also the 212th. Rex and Cody exchanged a worried glance, though Rex seemed more comfortable with the prospect than Cody was. "I understand, Master Yoda."

"Ready, you must be. To Rex and Cody, you should listen. Their experience, invaluable it will be." Yoda gave Rex and Cody a curt nod, a cue to leave. The two clones caught the signal and gave Yoda a brief salute before leaving. "Now as for you, Padawan. Agree to send you without a master, I do not. But a master to spare, there is not."

"Why?" Ahsoka asked before she caught herself. "I'm sorry, but... couldn't another master take lead of the 501st in the meantime?"

"Afford that, the Republic cannot. A master who is not already in the field with their own command, there is not." Yoda answered with a slow sigh. "Too concentrated, the number of clones would be. Spreading, the front is. Put large numbers of divisions together, we cannot."

"But haven't we done it before? On Geonosis, Umbara..." Ahsoka was listing the extensive list of battles almost by instinct.

"Critical missions, those were. Many divisions, required there were. The battles ahead, fought by smaller numbers they must be." Yoda shook his head. "Unwise it is, I feel, to place such a burden upon the learners, but upon us the demands of war are. Heed the experience of the clones, you must. Learn from them, and from Yularen."

Ahsoka lowered her head respectfully. "I will, Master Yoda."

The ancient Jedi master eased himself to the floor. "Then, may the Force be with you."

XX

**Jedi Temple Hanger Bay**

"I don't like this," Cody said as they stepped out of the turbolift. "She's learned, but she's not ready."

"I'm not a hundred percent behind this either," Rex admitted, "But she's come a long way from being naively fresh meat for the grinder."

"Maybe," Cody answered as he pulled a datapad from his utility belt, "I'm still not sure on it."

"Look," Rex said as he put a hand in front of Cody and turned so he was facing him directly. "She's young, but isn't she older than both of us?"

"Chronologically, yes." Cody admitted. "And I know what you're going to say, 'she's learned a lot'."

"Look, she's not going to try and usurp your position. That's not her style, and you know it."

The commander sighed. "Look, I'm just concerned for my men. I do not want a rerun of what happened on Ryloth and Felucia."

"Neither do I," said another voice as the turbolift opened again. _Well,_ Rex thought as he saw her. _She looks worried._ Cody turned to look at her and gave a slight nod. Ahsoka walked up to them and put a hand on her hip casually. It was awkwardly silent for a moment which Rex took to try and get a feel for what happened. He did not have the Force, but clones had developed an acute sense of the little details. They had to, as the Kaminoans had tried to repress the individualistic traits of the clones to make them the same. _She's scared,_ Rex realized, _and it's not the usual fear of dying she keeps suppressed, it's fear of getting others killed on her orders. Were any of us ready to send men to their deaths in this war?_

"Any orders?" Cody finally asked.

Ahsoka shook her head. "Nothing from above except staying around for the hearing." She looked to Cody. "Cody, I'm not going to try and micromanage your job. I think Obi-Wan would of wanted you leading the 212th if he was gone anyways."

"Sir," Cody answered with a slight nod. Rex folded his arms, a slight smirk forming on his face. He knew Cody was genuinely touched that she was not going to be hanging over his shoulder. _She just trying to reassure him, or something else?_ Rex wondered, chalking it up on leaving experience where it was needed.

"We're both at the same rank, Cody, I'm not going to try and put myself above you." she added.

"Thank you, Commander." Cody answered with a faint smile, "I need to talk with my officers, tell them that we have some time off. The RSO probably needs to be notified that there will be a lot more troopers than usual tonight anyways." With a nod, he walked towards the _Twilight_, and Rex took the opportunity to ask.

"You're serious about letting Cody work with the 212th, aren't you?" Rex asked.

"Yes." Ahsoka answered as she looked towards the outside of the hanger. "I'm not quite ready to handle both commands. Besides, the game of which commander outranks the other isn't something we should be forced into on the battlefield. Leaving Cody in charge of the 212th means he knows his area and I know mine and we won't have that happen anymore than two separate commands in a joint mission."

"Makes sense; less confusion. Still, if the 212th and 501st are being merged until the Generals are healed, you may have to."

"Maybe, but I don't want it to be a case of inheriting the job from Master Kenobi."

Rex smirked, "You seem to be inheriting Skywalker's job pretty smoothly."

"Well, I _am_ his Padawan, aren't I?" she responded with a toothy grin, giving Rex a reminder that yes, in a battle she was a predator. "Besides, we don't need to do any real changes. Yularen's a good officer."

_Translation;_ Rex thought, _we are not going to change anything just because the Generals are floating in a bacta tank. Business as usual as much as possible._ He knew the working relationship that had been built would work. She had generally let Rex lead, usually just relaying Skywalker's orders than issuing her own, and she helped Rex make the choices by offering any insight her Jedi abilities gave her. Unbidden, however, memories from the battle on Umbara came to his mind, the dissent that had quickly taken a grip in the 501st. He pushed the memories away. _She's not like Krell, and the men know her. They know she isn't a traitor or just hates us, and more importantly she fights with us on the field. If she's giving a crazy mission because that's what the battle demands, she'll be in the thick of it with us._

XXX

XXX

XXX

XXX

**End Chapter**

**Endnotes:**

* One thing I always disliked about the entire Clone Wars was that they slapped Jedi Padawans, even those not even old enough to join the army if they weren't Jedi, as Commanders in rank. I mean, yes, you have to fit them into the chain of command as they are going to be with their Masters during the war, but as Commanders? Fine, it was Palpatine's scheme, but it still is pretty absurd. Honestly, I would of just made them 'Third Lieutenants' or something like that, trainee officers. Still in the chain of command, but any trained officer would be able to countermand them if needed. So for example, Rex would outrank Ahsoka in that situation instead of it being Ahsoka outranking Rex. I'm just glad that the series generally had Ahsoka take a backseat in the command department except for maybe relaying Anakin's orders down or some minor target pointing, but I also feel like it is a bit of a waste of a good plot; namely how is Ahsoka learning tactics over time and evolving as a commander. We've seen her kriff things up at Ryloth and Felucia, but we have not yet seen how she has learned since then.

* Still, Ahsoka being forced to fill the role of Anakin and Obi-Wan because they're both out makes some sense if we go with the chain of command. Wouldn't be my first choice if I was in Yoda's shoes (I know he doesn't wear any), but it fits enough.

* Why would Yoda not be angry at the clones? First of all, the whole no anger stuff (or if you have anger, dispel it quickly and calm the heck down). But second, I think that of anyone Yoda would be able to figure out that there may not be a lot of free will involved with Order Sixty-Six. He would certainly cut down any clone trooper who tried to kill a Jedi, ROTS sealed that rather well, but he would definitely try to discover what went wrong and the truth behind it. Since only maybe ten to twenty Jedi tops got hit with Order Sixty-Six in this little alternate timeline, Yoda also would not feel all the deaths in the Force, which means he would have his full faculties. Not that feeling the deaths did much to him anyways, poor Commander Gree...

* The bit about Cody not liking non-clone soldiers is a nod to TFU II (which I have not played). I was doing some research on Wookieepedia and found that he tended to be pretty rough on the Stormtrooper trainees he got, so I threw it in. Given the direction I want to go, it felt appropriate to mention Cody's dislike of non-clone soldiers.

* There is a reason I tend to have Jedi sense basic emotion shifts of nearby people even if they are not trying to find it. It is not an invasion of privacy or anything, it is simply keeping their senses open and picking up the shifts that would alert them to things like an attempted murder. It is not meant to be invasion of privacy, just picking up basic shifts that would put them on alert if needed. That, and it helps emphasize differences between Jedi and non-Jedi. A clone would pick up the body language; a Jedi would usually sense it in the Force. Plus, it is an interesting shift to use and how characters can act knowing something a little deeper than what is shown on the physical body.

* I chose Bail Organa as the replacement for Palpatine for a couple reasons. For one, he's one of the most level headed Senators who is on both sides; see about getting peace, but also do his part for the war effort by heading the Republic Security Committee (primarily covered in the TCW tie-in novels). This basically means he's got both sides of the coin; he has the support of those who want to end the war with negotiation, and those who are more militant. Besides this, it is emphasized several times that Bail Organa is a man the majority of the Republic respected at the very least, so he felt like a natural choice. Besides, I wouldn't put Padme in charge of the Republic during a war no matter how good her intentions... maybe _after_ Grievous and Dooku were killed off and peace is actually possible, but not during a war. She did well enough on Naboo, but that was more 'win our planet back' than waging a galactic war.

* Speaking of that, I tried to do my research on Wookieepedia for a Supreme Chancellor's election and as much as I got was 'senators vote', so I tried to keep it simple.

* To summarize Bail Organa's speech, he's basically saying to the Republic: Winning this war is no longer something to keep distance to. It's all in, or we're doomed. Keep the avenue for peace open so we can end the fighting sooner, but be wary. And, as the public wants the clones out in light of the misfired Order Sixty-Six, he's also saying it's time for the Republic's people to step up to the plate that the Clone Army has been at, while at the same time defending the clones. The nutshell of the nutshell: wake up and use some common sense. It may be a rare commodity, but every person (theoretically) has it.

* The _Twilight_ was replaced by, in Dave Filoni's eyes, the T-6 Shuttle (first seen in the Season 2 episode _'Children of the Force'_) and later the _Eta_-class shuttles (the one used in the Season 3 _'Mortis'_ arc). He said that the _Twilight_ was still around, it just was not in active use, so I figured I'd give it a new lease on life here. One of the original reasons the crew continued using the _Twilight_ past the movie was because it was something that _wasn't_ conspicuously Republic, from what I read. To be honest, I'd of found it more believable if Anakin used the _Twilight_ to chase after Cad Bane and Rako Hardeen (Obi-Wan in disguise) during '_Friends and Enemies_' in Season 4 because then it's not a ship that obviously belongs to the GAR flying around in Hutt Space, but that's a personal quibble.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Why do I have such a tolerance for the Jedi and their more unorthodox ways, Captain? It is because I have to work with them. Whether we like it or not, they are a key to the Republic's defense, serving now and will serve again as the Republic's military leaders. While I find some elements of their philosophy disconcerting and often find myself at odds with them, the tube top that Skywalker's student used to wear quickly comes to mind, they are no more different than any other culture in the Republic. [...] Speaking of Skywalker's student, I honestly would prefer her wearing some proper armor, especially after recent events."_

- Admiral Yularen to Captain Pellaeon, in regards of the Jedi and their less-than-military attitudes, over a drink in the _Leveler_'s ward room.

**Chapter 4: The First Lines**

**Early Afternoon (Galactic Standard)**

**2 Standard Days after Order Sixty-Six**

**Collective Commercial District, Coruscant**

"See a parking space?" Boil asked as Oddball turned the speeder towards a space between two relatively large and dinged up speeder cars. Oddball gave him a nod as he pulled into the parking space and set the speeder down gently so the other two clones, Ando and Wooley, could get out. The four clones had borrowed the dinged up but serviceable civilian speeder from the motor pool in one of the larger military bases as an alternate method of transportation as they were technically off duty, and also wore various excess civilian slacks that were on base for these kinds of things. They had won some extra credits from crewmembers of the _Venator_-class cruiser _Negotiator_ (General Kenobi's normal flagship that was still in for repairs) after winning a bet about how long it would take to repair. Sick of the usual government rations and the somewhat blasé entertainment available at the Republic Service Organization Center, the four had decided to use the credits they earned to get something better tasting to eat.

Oddball locked the speeder behind them as the other three walked towards the diner. Commander Cody, going off of an offhand comment by General Kenobi during a discussion of how civilian life might be like, had suggested they try out Dex's Dinner since the owner knew General Kenobi and would probably appreciate friends of his. Wooley, worrywart as always, had wondered if Dex would be angry to see them. Cody recognized that some of the patrons might not be so happy to see clones, and so had suggested that they all carry DC-15s sidearm blasters (set to stun) in case they got into trouble, and they each had one of the blasters in their right pockets. "So, any idea what kind of food there is here?" Ando asked. "It's obviously not a fancy joint."

"Mostly the fast food type stuff with some decent sit in, from what the commander said." Boil answered as he appraised the place. "Still, should taste better than normal rations."

"Not as healthy, though," Wooley pointed out as they entered. A bell rang as they walked in, a AW-7 service droid slowed down to turn its head at them.

"More customers, honey!" the droid called to the back of the Diner, "Clones by the looks of them."

The mention of clones caused a sudden pause in the Diner that could be felt as if the place had suddenly became ten degrees colder. Various patrons (half of which were drunk) turned to look at them. Boil's hand dropped to where his pistol was instinctively as a booming voice came from the back.

"Give them a seat!" called the Besalisk owner from the kitchen. Boil immediately fought back memories. Umbara. General Krell. Waxer's death. It was all coming back to him in vivid detail. Clone on clone violence, the realization of the betrayal, the brutal fight against one Jedi. He closed his eyes and shook the thought away as he took a seat at the table the WA-7 showed them to. People all around were watching them warily and Boil could hear some dark mutterings directed towards them as they started looking through the menu.

"So... anything decent?" Ando asked as he looked through the holographic menu.

"The healthiest thing here is probably the steak. And that's not saying much. We're going to put on so many extra calories..."

"Oh stop worrying so much Wooley." Boil irritably berated his brother in the 212th, "It's just one round. We probably do worse for ourselves getting hammered in the mess when the alert's low."

Wooley sighed, "Alright, I'll try this 'slider'... looks to be in budget."

"It's no 500 Republica, that's for sure." Oddball snarked as he put the menu down. _Yeah, bloody politicians do everything wrong. Spend hours arguing over the fine print of completely worthless anecdotes, pass big budgets for waging war before going to an opera house for a luxurious night while we get whatever holos we have in our helmets and a bed of mud, and they overprice everything._ The WA-7 strolled back over to take their orders.

XX

**Waiting Room Four**

**Jedi Temple**

"Pure Sabacc?!" Rex cursed loudly as Artoo revealed his hand and everyone else at the table folded. Just when they thought everyone teaming up against the droid would work...

"Hey, at least we're playing Republic Senate rules," Ahsoka pointed out as they put the cards back in the deck. "Otherwise, Artoo would probably be able to buy us another walker. Or three." The astromech tweedled what sounded to her like it was _bragging_.

"I still vote for Nar Shaddaa rules." Fives chimed in, glancing at Ahsoka briefly before quickly turning his head away. "Even if I'd be in my regulation undergarments right now."

"Maybe we should just stop playing Force Sabacc and try another rule set even if we're keeping Republic Senate," Rex rather hotly suggested as he slipped his helmet on to check for other rule sets. Ahsoka was unsure if it was losing to the droid that caused it, or Fives' comment, or maybe he was still pissed at the politicians and the whole mess they were in. "How about Gungan rules?" Rex finally suggested.

"That's basically the rules in reverse, low value wins." Fives pointed out before he paused and shrugged. "Yeah. I'll deal."

They had been there for a while now, trying to pass the time until the next day when the trial would start. And unfortunately, the only thing that clones really had to do besides watch the HoloNet there was to play cards, something they had become quite used to thanks to multiple month sieges (right on schedule, if you asked Commander Cody) of constantly firing turbolasers at a shielded capital city. And at the moment, they were not in the mood for anything else and the Temple's healers refused to let them see Skywalker or Kenobi until they were more stable.

The door opened as Fives began dealing and everyone in the room turned. To Ahsoka's surprise, it was Padme Amidala, and it was clear that the older woman was worried sick. "Senator," Rex said with a nod before anyone else could answer. "What brings you here?"

"I came to check on Anakin and Obi-Wan," she explained as she leaned on the door frame, shaking her head. "But the healers turned me away, saying they needed time and no visitors were permitted."

"Yeah, we got the same answer." Ahsoka answered, "Apparently it was both more serious than we thought and also less so. They'll live, but..." she inhaled, "I don't know if we'll be around for them to get out. We're here for the trial, but after it's over..."

"If it's any reassurance, it usually takes forever for the courts to do anything. They had to push a lot of cases back so that they could hear it in the Senate tomorrow."

"Someone put it very high in importance. What got pushed away?" Cody asked, rubbing his chin in consideration.

"Mostly minor stuff that was pushed up in appeals like long since decided reparations for conflicts ended by the Judicial Forces." She shook her head, "I am sometimes surprised by the petty things that get pushed."

Fives was looking at a datapad and said, twisting his face as he tried to pronounce the planet's name, "Like this conflict between Bp... Bf... some unpronounceable planet and Orto some five hundred standard years ago that the unpronounceable planet started."

"The Bpfasshi were not happy for the delay, no," Padme commented, drawing an incredulous look from the ARC Trooper and left Ahsoka wondering how she could pronounce it without twisting her face as much as Fives had done just trying. "But the sooner this is resolved, hopefully, the sooner we can put the disaster behind us and end this war."

"I hope you're right," Rex said as leaned forward. "This trial just isn't sitting right with me. An investigative committee I can understand considering the seriousness of this, but the trial... I dunno, it feels like it's a political play, but I can't figure out by who. I still can't tell which way the longnecks are going to sit."

"I hope they stay out of this kriffing thing," Fives bitterly commented. "We all know that they're obsessed with perfection, and any of us giving a testimony is liable to get them into it."

"Or Rex, at least, given he was actually there, Fives." Cody pointed out. "I can confirm I did not get any such transmission, but so did billions of other clones."

"Halle Burtoni is getting involved in the case," Padme pointed out as she took a seat at the table. "Apparently, they are chalking up on the theory that Order Sixty-Six was not properly executed and the clones who followed through were defective and need to be 'reconditioned'."

Ahsoka sensed a sudden chill in the clones and after a moment felt one shoot up her own spine as she realized what 'reconditioned' was a euphemism for. Rex answered, "I'm going to assume she didn't say that in front of the press..."

Padme's answer was rather grim in tone. "She claimed it was simple physiological assistance to help repair the, quote, "damages" that occurred in the war and subtly implied that individual clones could have minor mistakes due to the sheer size of the number of clones involved. Thus, they needed to be 'fixed' to remove the mistakes."

"In other words, us showing just how we aren't droids and that we're actually people." Fives bitterly commented. "Has anyone outside the clones, Jedi, and the kriffing longnecks seen how we're treated in Kaminoan ran medical centers? We're not 'people' to them, we're _units_." Artoo gave a mournful bleat to the comment. "We still instinctively suppress our individual traits around them because they've _beaten_ us over them as a matter of 'discipline'."

"This may be a chance to reveal it in public." Padme pointed out, "If the trial turns into the show that it's expected to become, it may be possible to let them show themselves as who they really are. Mon Mothma volunteered to help with legal counsel for Tango Company, and she is going to be focusing her defense on the still unknown details of Order Sixty-Six, and the fact that the members of Tango Company still alive are not the ones who actually followed through."

"The latter isn't going to matter to a lot of people," Ahsoka pointed out quietly. "As far as mob mentality is going to care, clones killed Jedi. By the time the truth is out..." she shivered. The kind of things that could happen to innocent men in the Grand Army before the public came to grips with the reality of the situation was not something she wanted to think of.

XXX

**Dex's Diner**

**Collective Commercial District, Coruscant**

"So, General Kenobi is looking like a cranky pincushion with a bunch of transparisteel shards stuck in his armor and General Skywalker is rather busy telling him to be quiet and let the medics do their work. Obviously, General Kenobi wants them worried about the other wounded," Ando was telling when Oddball chuckled.

"Ah, good ol' Kenobi, won't let a simply flesh wound stand in the way of covering for us. I don't care what those jackass Nulls say, Kenobi's a good man." Oddball explained, "So what happened next?"

"Well, General Skywalker tells Kenobi to stand still and that it would hurt. The medics couldn't get the shards out since the only trick they had was brute force, and doing that was just going to make it worse. So Skywalker just sits there and lifts his hand, the shard starts easing its way from the body and once out, he drops it onto the ground. He does it for all eight, then medics start slapping on pressure pads and the like, telling him, _'General Kenobi, you've dodged a blaster bolt this time!'_"

"What'd the general say in return?" Boil asked after he finished his drink.

"_'Actually, I dodged quite a few'_ and went on telling him to see to the men actually injured instead of his 'scratches'." Ando shook his head. "I'll never get Kenobi's selflessness, sometimes. I mean, it goes above and beyond human decency. The Admiral had to chew him out over ignoring his injuries."

"Wasn't Skywalker's apprentice there?" Wolly asked.

"Yeah; she pretty much got a gut full of shrapnel to the gut; collapsed lung and three broken ribs I think. She was still wearing that tube top, so no protection." Ando added with a nod.

"She really should get some armor, really." Oddball commented as Ando pulled a datapad from his pocket and slid it over.

"You think?" he asked with a smirk as the others looked at the image on the datapad between bites.

"I hope Rex doesn't know about this..." Wooley commented as he looked over the image as several of the diner's patrons slid over towards them.

"Nah," Ando said with a smile, "but I was bored and had nothing to do during that siege on Ruul." Several patrons had gathered at their table and Ando turned. "Can we help you?"

"So..." the leading patron, a Dug, drunkenly asked, "Yer clones whose works for Kenobi?"

"Yes, we are members of the 212th Attack Battalion..." Boil responded as he slid his hand down to his pistol and made sure it was set to stun.

"Yesh bloodieh scum!" an extremely drunk human female shouted at them. "Yeh pretend ta beh good soldjas, all while yer plottin' ta shoot 'im in the back!"

"Kriffin' organic droids!" another drunk shouted as the four clones glanced to each other and slid their hands to their blasters slowly.

_"Get ready to knock the table over for cover,"_ Boil whispered as several more joined the crowd.

"HEY!" Dex shouted from the kitchen, "No blasters, and don't you go starting a ruckus in my diner!"

Ando looked at the lead drunk, "Are you done yet? We have not done anything to you..."

"Ah kark you, clone! Weh all know yeh plan on killin' other Jedis!"

"Sir," Boil said with as much gravity as he could, "just stand down, you don't want to try and..."

"GET 'EM!" the drunk female shouted as she pulled out a blaster and pulled the trigger. The green blaster bolt went wide and shot out a light fixture and the four clones sprang into action. Wooley and Oddball kicked the table forward and the four clones dropped in behind it as the remains of their food tumbled over, the four firing blasters into the crowd of drunks attacking them. Blue stun bolts shot out and enveloped their targets, dropping the first line of them quickly.

"STAND DOWN!" Boil shouted at the crowd angrily as Dex hit an alarm and a siren began to wail in the distance. The crowd did not stop, so the four clones unloaded another volley at the drunks charging them. It seemed like the whole diner was in an uproar against them now. One diner was about to climb over the table with a large knife when a burly, brown skinned arm grabbed him and threw him back. The clones looked up to see Dex standing angrily in front of them.

"Go into the back!" the Besalisk growled as he picked up another drunk brawler and threw him into a nearby booth. The four clones sprang out of their makeshift bunker like they were clearing a trench and hurried into the back as Dex followed behind them and slammed the door shut before locking it. "That'll hold them," he said with a firm nod. "I had it built to withstand a rocket hit. Only one, probably, but it'll keep them out until the police show up."

"T... thank you." Oddball said as he caught his breath. "What set them off?"

"I guess they were jealous that clones could enjoy some time off," Boil bitterly suggested.

"I think it was the story you told about Obi-Wan." Dex explained, "But they should realize that he wouldn't want them lynching his own men in his name."

"What?"

"I overheard one of them saying they were going to get some payback for the injuries that Obi-Wan took from the clones. Before I could warn you, they were already on you." Outside they could hear the sounds of police speeders landing and the usual police warning when the back door suddenly opened and six clone soldiers with riot shields and blasters stormed in.

"DROP THE BLASTERS!" the sergeant shouted as he shoved his gun into Boil's face.

"Easy," Boil answered, cross eyed from the blaster right between his eyes, "I am lowering the blaster slowly..."

"You have the wrong ones," Dex cut in, "Those blasters are set to stun and were used for self defense."

The clone sergeant shrugged as he lowered his blaster from Boils' face, "Alright, but they will be cleared anyways. Sorry guys, orders from up top."

"It's alright," Oddball said as he put his blaster on the floor and a clone riot trooper picked it up and yanked out the power pack.

The clone sergeant stepped to the side and was talking with someone on his helmet's comlink. "Yes sir... No sir, the clones here were the ones assaulted, I am standing with several witnesses who can... Yes sir, their blasters have been confiscated and cleared... 212th Attack Battalion I believe... understood sir. We'll bring them in immediately." He turned back to the four clones. "Sorry boys, but they want you taken in. Mix of protective custody and questioning."

"Hang on, we need to pay for our food," Ando said as he pulled the small bag of credit chits they had.

"Don't bother," Dex answered, "On the house because of the idiots over there spoiling your honest business."

The clone sergeant glanced around before looking at the Besalisk, "Mister Jettster, command will want us to confiscate them. Clones are not supposed to have credits beyond mission related duties, and they need to know the origin."

"We got it off of the non-clone crew on the _Venator_-class cruiser _Negotiator,_ sergeant. We won a bet with them."

The sergeant nodded. "Alright. Just give us the names so we can confirm it, command is getting paranoid about us right now. Damn contingency orders..." he added under his breath.

"We also borrowed a speeder from the motor pool," Wooley chimed in, "Its parked outside, Registration ID TK-421. Oddball has the keys."

"Hub, make sure that the speeder is returned."

"Copy that, sarge." one of the riot troopers said, taking the keys from Oddball and heading over, talking on his helmet's comlink as he did so.

The sergeant turned his attention back to the four clones as things quieted down outside. "Alright, let's get you four back to base. Your commanding officer know you are here?"

"Yes sir, Commander Cody recommended this place." Ando answered as they went out the back.

"Good. That should keep you covered from any backlash as long as you didn't provoke."

XX

**One Hour Later**

Dex sighed as he was busy cleaning up the damages. The end result had been the drunks charged for the damages, collectively, and they would be serving time for it, but he still had to clean up. He was about where the clones had made their bunker and he found a small datapad. Frowning, he knelt down and picked it up, turning it back on. The image was where it had been before it shut itself down after the brawl, a record of a pinup of a certain Jedi Padawan. He smirked and pocketed it, he would sent it to the military later. _Or maybe I should hold onto it... if only so I can tease Obi-Wan later that his men have taken a liking to her._ He chuckled to himself imagining his old friend's face twisting in response to what his men had been doing when bored.

XX

**One Day Later**

**3 Standard Days after Order Sixty-Six**

**Ninth Hall of Justice**

**Galactic Courts of Justice Building, Coruscant**

The proceedings were going to be interesting due to the nature of it, that much Bail Organa knew. Because it involved the military and a high level of it, he had to sit on the case and serve as the one to break a deadlock if it entered one with the twelve justices who were sitting on the court. But because of the critical importance that it be handled, many Senators were either going to be involved as part of the prosecution or defense, and the two leading 'lawyers' were indeed Senators as no lawyer would take the case. Yet, because a whole company was on trial, they had decided to suffice with its squad leaders being present while the others waited in a secondary hall with a special holocam set up so they could watch the proceedings. As the joint defendants, they had a right to see the trial unfold. The witnesses to the event were held, as usual in a Republic trial case, in isolated but comfortable individual cells to avoid them 'contaminating' each other's views during the proceedings. As they were needed, they would be escorted out one by one and then returned when all was said and done. Among the witnesses were several 501st soldiers, and he believed he had caught sight of Skywalker's captain in the line of witnesses as well when he passed by.

In the audience, however, was a truly bizarre mix of politicians who either wanted to see real justice or wanted to see a show, people who wanted to see (mostly proverbial) blood in the courts, and a number of clones, officers, and Jedi who were available to stand in support of actual justice rather than a farce, among whom he spotted Yoda, Mace Windu (fresh from his skirmishes in the Colonies Region), and a number of other Jedi he did not immediately recognize. Others in the crowd were officers like Admiral Yularen, and some were simply non-clone servicemen who were there to see what happens.

Bail took his seat on the far side of the judge's panel. They had already filed the Justices in and the usual round of respect, but he was technically speaking an observer until the deadlock occurred, if it did. He knew most of them were pro-Palpatine, but the very nature of it made those who supported the former Supreme Chancellor wary. The constant testimony by the clones who received it was Palpatine himself ordering Order Sixty-Six, and it was too real to be a recording given they unanimously described him as injured and weak, and the timing coincided with the bombing.

The leading Justice took his seat and activated his holodisplay. "Court is now in session, and we are hearing the case of _Galactic Republic versus Tango Company_, with charges of Treason, Murder, Insubordination, and Conspiracy against the Republic. Will the prosecution stand?"

_Persecution,_ Bail Organa silently corrected as Halle Burtoni stood and lowered her long neck to the justices. "Senator Halle Burtoni, of Kamino, prosecuting this case on behalf of the Senate."

The lead justice nodded. "The defense?"

Mon Mothma stood, "Senator Mon Mothma, of Chandrila, representing Tango Company and the other clone troopers indicted by these charges."

"Very well. You may both sit. We will now hear opening statements. Senator Burtoni?"

The Kaminoan had not even begun sitting as she moved to the fore, speaking in her voice which sent chills up Organa's spine from the almost petulantly elite tone it constantly had. "Ladies, Gentlemen, what we have here today is a tragic case of battle damage. The clones in question, Company Four of the 131st Mobile Infantry which is better known as Tango Company, have committed grievous acts against their leaders. Though the source is still under investigation, they obliged themselves to fulfill orders of questionable content and as a result critically wounded generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, who are currently in intensive care for these injuries. This treasonous act must not be tolerated, and even should they be vindicated of the worst of the charges these clones are unfit to walk free, for the battles of the war have damaged them, leaving their control questionable." The Kaminoan was pacing as she spoke, occasionally throwing a glance towards the clone troopers representing their brothers. "Battle damage, alas, cannot always be accounted for and shows as these troopers begin to do non-regulation actions, such as the non-standard images on their armor. The damages to Company Four of the 131st are unfortunate, but repairable so long as they are dealt with and disciplined in accordance with their deviance. This is what the Senate asks the courts to do, to ensure discipline and as a show that nothing will stop the requirements demanded of these troopers." She took a step back and let Mon Mothma rise.

The Chandrillian senator contrasted from her counterpart in every way; kind, serene, caring... yet behind that, Bail knew, was a spine of steel. "The charges levied against Tango Company are vast, varied, and from a certain point of view are true. Yet, there are many questions surrounding this. We know that the case of Tango Company is not alone. The men before you, Sergeants Ox, Firebird, Dropout, and Edge, are not those who executed the Order Sixty-Six. Indeed, the men who were given such orders were killed at the hands of General Skywalker. As testimony, combat recordings from helmets, and records will prove, this witch hunt is a search for scapegoats for a crime by the dead. Is it justice to punish those who were dying to defend our liberties for actions they could not prevent? Is it the Republic's ideals to punish men fighting a war that many of our own would not fight because of what very well may be something completely beyond any of our control? Are we to ignore the truth to sate a desire to avenge a wrong, no matter the victim?" Mon Mothma paused, allowing the rhetorical questions to sink in. "It is not justice to punish those who do not commit a crime, and it is not the way of the Republic to punish by association with one who has committed the crime had they not assisted in its execution. Justices, let these _men_ who have fought for the Republic, who are still grieving for their brothers who fell in these recent battles, stand vindicated that the truth that lead to this tragedy is being sought for _truth_." She returned to her seat and sat down.

The lead justice nodded. "Senator Burtoni, first witness..."

"I call CT-7567 to the stand." Burtoni stated. A nod from the bailiff saw one of the Senate Commandos walking to where individuals were being held.

XX

Rex followed the commander, wearing his usual armor as he felt that appearing professional would be important. The door opened and he was able to see the impressive courtroom where the case was being held. The commando lead him to the stand and the bailiff stood in front of him. He placed a hand scanner in front of him and Rex pulled his gauntlet off and placed his right hand on the scanner, which confirmed his identity.

"CT-7567 'Rex', do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes sir." Rex answered. The bailiff nodded and Senator Burtoni rose and approached him.

"CT-7567, you are the Captain in charge of Company Two of the 501st Legion?"

"Yes ma'am," he answered calmly, briefly wondering why she was asking what everyone already knew.

"You were present at Bespin two standard days ago?"

"I was present at the battle, ma'am."

"You witnessed Tango Company assaulting Generals Kenobi and Skywalker?"

"Yes ma'am." _Come on, lady,_ Rex thought, noticing a slight shift in Senator Burtoni as she seemed like she won a victory. _Only until the cross,_ he reminded himself, and that he was supposed to be impartial as a witness.

"Tell the court what occurred, CT-7567."

Rex ignored the number jab and focused on what he had seen. "We had landed in the city in order to hopefully save Tango Company and then drive the droid forces from the city. We had split into two groups of ground forces. Torrent Company, my unit of the 501st Legion, stayed with Generals Skywalker and Kenobi in order to rescue Tango Company, while Commander Cody and ARC Trooper Fives took the infantry of the 212th Attack Battalion to disable the anti-aircraft emplacements so we could land our walkers safely."

"You refer to CC-2224 and CT-5555, correct." Burtoni cut in.

Rex grit his teeth momentarily before answering, "Yes, Commander Cody and ARC Trooper Fives respectively."

"Continue, CT-7567."

"As we approached Tango Company's position, the Generals reported a 'disturbance in the Force', but we pressed on regardless. As we approached, Lieutenant Scythe and roughly a quarter of Tango Company moved to our sides and opened fire." He paused a moment to swallow the bile in his mouth when Burtoni cut in again.

"By 'Scythe', you refer to CT-9544."

"Yes, Scythe is his name Senator..."

"This is a formal proceeding, CT-7567. Please use designation numbers, not nicknames."

"Objection," Mon Mothma cut in. "The usage of names or designation numbers is preference as Clones formally register their chosen name to be paired with their military identification number in their official files."

"This is a formal proceeding, Senator, and those names are chosen nicknames, not legal names. Their only legal name is their designation number as they do not go through the courts as any citizen of the Republic would." Burtoni countered.

"Objection sustained," the lead justice said. "You may ask for it for the record, but no further unless it is part of your questioning. Continue your prior testimony, Captain."

"Thank you, your honor." Rex said with a slight nod. "After they opened fire, General Kenobi fell to blaster fire while General Skywalker began to, as we call it in the 501st, 'keelhaul' Tango Company in response. He killed Lieutenant Scythe in his first move and proceeding to cut through Tango Company before the rest of the unit responded to the attack of their fellow soldiers and wounded him. I moved in to try and break it up while Torrent Company's medics deployed to tend to the wounded and the generals, learning of Order Sixty-Six from Ox after tackling him to stop his reaction. By final tally, General Skywalker had taken out those who had killed General Kenobi, and the few that survived his attack were killed by droids by the end of the battle."

"Thank you, Captain. You can also confirm that Order Sixty-Six was not executed to you, correct?"

"Correct, ma'am, I only received helmet static which I dismissed as the destruction of a helmet com."

Burtoni took her seat and held her hands like a pyramid as she nodded. "Very well. No further questions, your honor."

"Senator Mothma, do you have any questions?"

"Yes, Justice." Mon Mothma said as she stood. "Captain Rex, could you cite standard Grand Army regulations to sudden attacks by friendly forces?"

"Yes ma'am," Rex said with a nod. "If attacked by presumed friendlies, warning shots are to be fired and they are to be talked down unless they have already killed and are continuing to kill fellow soldiers. At this point, they are to be deemed as 'hostile' until defeated or they can be stood down and when the battle is over the incident is to be reported to command. This was done per procedure, and the official reports can be provided at the court's request if they have not already been forwarded."

"You are familiar with this, Captain Rex?"

"Yes ma'am. After Umbara..."

"Objection, relevancy of the Battle of Umbara." Burtoni cut in.

"The incident at Umbara was a clear case of this regulation in question at work and why it was made originally." Mon Mothma answered.

"Overruled. You may answer the question, Captain." the lead justice stated.

"At Umbara, the 501st and 212th were given orders by General Krell which lead the two units to fighting. Under the impression each other were Umbaran militia units with stolen armor, we engaged each other until the ruse was revealed."

"As I understand it, it was your actions which saw the end of this engagement?"

Rex closed his eyes, the entire battle playing out in a moment. "Yes ma'am. A lot of good men died because of one traitor. Leaf, Hendricks, Waxer..." he cut himself off before he continued rambling.

Mon Mothma nodded slowly. "If you wish a moment to compose yourself, Captain, please take it."

"Thank you, ma'am, but this matter is important."

"Very well. You can confirm then, that General Skywalker attacked Tango Company soldiers and they responded in this manner until the friendly fire was over?"

"Correct."

"Could you detail Order Sixty-Six for the records, Captain?"

"Yes ma'am. 'In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander', specifically the Supreme Chancellor, 'GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander', again the Supreme Chancellor, 'until a new command structure is established.' This is one of 150 contingencies which were part of our training on Kamino." As the details of the order were played out, Rex could make out the Jedi in the audience becoming unnerved... and he knew why. It had been there the whole time, and they had never seen it coming.

"And there is no confirmation protocol or cease-fire protocol?"

"Correct. The order was meant to be finite and final due to the abilities of Jedi. There is also no contingency for any other authority but that of the Supreme Chancellor, nor is the use of stun settings included. Once executed, all clones are to have Jedi marked for death and to execute them. So long as the Supreme Chancellor ordered it, all clones would be bound to execute the order."

"Thank you, Captain. For those unaware of the science behind your creation, the Kaminoans modified you to be, quote, 'docile and obedient', unquote, and that these contingencies were hardwired into these modifications, if you would pardon the analogy."

"The analogy is fine, ma'am. That is correct, our template Jango Fett was deemed to be too independent and individualistic for a standard infantryman, crew, or pilot, so part of our modifications that included our growth acceleration. However, these are not infallible."

Mon Mothma nodded. "Then it would be reasonable to say that Tango Company received legitimate orders and acted upon them."

Rex sighed. "Yes ma'am, that would be correct. If Tango Company received such an order, then it would be likely they would act on it. The contingencies were meant for emergency usage in the event of unpredicted or sudden events outside of the normal parameters of the war."

"Very well. Thank you, Captain Rex, for your time. No further questions."

"Senator Burtoni?" the lead justice asked.

"Yes, I have a few clarifications for the court." The Kaminoan stood. "CT-7567, you said that Order Sixty-Six would be the equivalent of an automatic death mark for Jedi at the hands of clones, yet you defied it when you learned of it. Yet this has not happened. Why?"

"I can only offer theories, Senator." Rex retorted, recalling that such was hearsay and not acceptable in Republic court.

"Then, as a clone, give us the perspective into why clones would defy their orders."

Rex ignored the bait and quickly planned out his counterattack before answering. "First, the order was not issued to all. Only a few officers received it, and most others only gained static. With the limited ordering of it in contrast with its GAR wide application, it is a logical course of action to assume faultiness. With the lag time between hearing of it and its actual order, the former Supreme Chancellor's authority would have been lost in his death. Those who actually received it would believe it was real, especially if they did not have time to find out the full details. Combat is not a research case where you have the luxury of cross referencing information, you must use what you know."

"I see. Very well, no further questions." Burtoni backed off, disappointed.

"No further questions." Mon Mothma answered.

The lead justice nodded. "Captain Rex, you may return and await further questions should they be required."

"Thank you, your honor." Rex said with a nod as he removed himself from the seat. He glanced to the members of Tango Company, and they gave an ever so slight nod. Rex knew what it meant; _thank you_.

XXX

**End Chapter**

* Damn, writing a trial is harder than I thought. I mean, I hit writers block trying to write it out. I hope the wait was worth it, but the trial will not end in a day, of course. So this can come back later. Okay, that, and I got sidetracked with working on my rewrite for my KP fanfic and some other miscellaneous ideas bouncing around my head.

* Yeah, the Kaminoans are bastards who don't understand the clones. Traviss may say the Jedi were assholes to the clones for using them as troops, but the Jedi gave them a damn lot more care than the Kaminoans ever did and it's not like they had time to train a proper army. Hell, if anyone can understand the clones, it would be the Jedi since the Jedi did not want to be in the war either and did not have much exposure to 'normal' life. So sure, you can demonize the Jedi for using a slave army, but by the same token you need to damn the Mandalorians who trained them for assisting in the creation of that slave army. And it is not like the Jedi ignored it, the AOTC novelization even had Obi-Wan basically thinking, _"crap, these poor guys are missing out on all the normal life children have"_ and realizing the implications.

* Force Sabacc first appeared in _'Courtship of Princess Leia'_, and I ran with it mostly for lulz here. The rules that were alluded to should be known to KOTOR players. Yeah, I did my research...

* I always figured Obi-Wan would share his few bits of 'normal' life with the clones, try and help them understand what they missed in between battles.

* Ox, unlike other members of Tango Company, did not have a numerical designation so I slapped him with one for this.

* With the premier of Season 5 of TCW, just assume that I will find a way to touch on it at some point. We do not know how much time there was between 'Revival' and the end of Season Four. Yeah, I don't agree with raising Maul either, but Dooku and Grievous need a chance to kick ass worse case worse.

* Also, while the original intent was using this as an overly long intro for an RP of a 'what if', I might just continue the story entirely on its own and just have a cutoff point for where I intended it to go. Thanks to CodyFett over at Spacebattles for the suggestion when I raised the idea; you were right, it feels like a better idea.


	5. Chapter 5

_"The problem that's plagued the Republic's military is that while every Jedi comes to arms in times of war, they also demobilize faster than Satine disarmed the Mandos. In times of peace it's not so bad, but then the next big war hits: the Great Hyperspace War, the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Civil War, the New Sith Wars and Ruusan, and now the Clone Wars. Every time the war hit, the Jedi were reluctant to become generals and it took precious time for them to join and adjust to command. We were lucky that we jumped to the call when it came this time, because if we hadn't... let's not think about that."_

_"The point is, Ahsoka, is that the Jedi cannot constantly distance ourselves from the Republic military after every war. Peacekeepers or not, we are a key to the Republic's defense, and we cannot afford to keep waiting for the last minute to join in. I'm not saying every Jedi has to keep the rank, but there need to be at least some Jedi who stay with the Republic army, career military or even separate from the Jedi Order. Things like this is what the Republic will have to answer after the Clone Wars end and we have destroyed the Separatists: How are we going to make sure that when war comes again, the Republic will be able to win it without dragging it any longer than it has to be?"_

- A lecture by Anakin Skywalker to Ahsoka Tano in regards to the Jedi's role in the Republic's military defense and musings on it, three days before Order Sixty-Six

**Chapter 5: Retaliation**

**3.5 Standard Days after Order Sixty-Six**

**Confederate Cruiser **_**Invisible Hand**_

**En Route to the Kiros System**

General Grievous sat back on the bridge of the cruiser, idly watching the map of his target with vague interest as the news coverage of the Order Sixty-Six trial played in the background. All in all, he felt like the planet was an inferior target. _So I burn another colony world with a sizable force. Another victory for the list, and nothing more._ The planet was certainly better defended than other colonies, though. It had a clone garrison and there was a planetary defense militia supporting it. From the reports that he had been provided with, the militia was trained by the clones and formed in response to the entire arc of events during which the colony was enslaved by the Zygerrian slavers. The Republic and Jedi had rescued most of the colonists and a Republic garrison was set up to prevent it from happening again, but the colonists left behind their pacifistic ways and armed themselves in anticipation of another attack. _And now those who forsake that foolish notion of pacifism are proven right._

Grievous looked to the Zygerrian captain who had accompanied him, Captain Darrus. The slaver had come with a small force of his own troops to suppress the Torgruta colonists, but the primary combatants for the Confederacy in this engagement would be droids. The captain wore a perpetually toothy frown and wore well crafted medium armor typical amongst Zygerrian soldiers, a blaster rifle slung over his shoulder and held on by a strap. Grievous gave him a nod and brought the map to the focus of their operations.

"This is the location of Kiros' capital and most of its habitation." Grievous began before coughing briefly and wishing he had changed his cybernetics before he left Dooku's palace, they were ready to be cycled out. "This attack will be very simple. Land, take the capital, then burn, kidnap, and pillage our way through until a proper Republic fleet shows up, at which point we will leave the system and let them nurse the wounds of what remains."

He pressed a button and red dots highlighted local towns and settlements, and two blue dots marked Republic garrisons. One was in the capital itself and much larger, while the other was a small dot that seemed to be an outpost near where they would land. "Darrus, you will have free reign on the settlements if you wish. I take it you have several crews given our limited time frame?"

"Yes," Darrus answered with a nod, "I will be taking a spearhead group to clamp down on any resistance, and secondary slaver crews shall land to actually handle the enslavement."

"Good. I will drive right for the important things in this battle, their combatants and heavy resistance. You may deal with Governor Roshti as you see fit, if I do not put his head on a spike first." Grievous tapped his metallic fingers on the other arm of the command chair as he said it before squeezing it into a fist, as if he was ripping the man's head from its shoulders. Something he wanted to do to _another_ dirty little...

He was interrupted by his tactical droid, T3-P6. "Sir, we are leaving hyperspace in nine standard minutes."

"Good." Grievous said. "Darrus, you will accompany the first group down. I will deal with any space forces and then clear you to land."

The Zygerrian captain nodded and walked out of the bridge and Grievous settled down. He had a battle to command.

Nine minutes later, they came out of hyperspace in orbit. They entered orbit as two _Munificent_ frigates came up to the flank of the _Invisible Hand_ and advanced towards the planet. As they were entering orbital positions and all the guns were reporting in as ready, several azure bolts shot up from the surface and hit the frigate on the right, electricity shooting throughout the ship as the ion blasts hit it. "Sir!" a B1 shouted, "There is an ion cannon on the planet's surface!"

"Get me its location and the specifications!" Grievous ordered as he pulled himself out of his chair and pointed to each B1 as he passed different orders while walking to the fore of the bridge. "I want that ion cannon destroyed! Launch all fighters in case some from the ground attempt to fly up, we know the militia has several Z-95 Headhunters in their collection and there is likely to be clone starfighters as well!"

"Launching initial fighter screen, sir!"

A minute later, one of the B1's on the sensor station turned. "Sir, we have detected a Kuat Drive Yards v-150 anti-orbital ion cannon on the surface not far from the capital itself. It is located in the second Republic outpost."

Grievous growled. "Get me Darrus. He shall have the pleasure of opening the way for his people's slave empire."

XXX

_**Invisible Hand**_** Hanger Bay**

"Sir, sir!" A B1 droid shouted as Darrus was walking onto the slave ship which would bear him and some of his men down.

"What is it?" he growled at the useless automaton.

"General Grievous wants you to destroy an ion cannon located in a small Republic outpost. You can take your own ship and a C-9979 lander for your initial forces, but anything larger is likely to be stopped and destroyed."

Darrus grit his teeth and took the datapad from the droid and nodded. "So be it. It shall be destroyed." He turned to his second in command as he entered in the units he could bring down. "Get those droids loaded onto the lander now, we have a job to do!" He turned and stepped into his ship. He walked into the cockpit as the droids finished loading.

"Captain, we are cleared to launch." the Zygerrian pilot stated.

"Good, take us in pilot. They have an ion cannon down there, so watch for incoming fire." Darrus could only hope the droid pilot in the lander was up to the job. The two transports lifted off, a squadron of Vulture Droids falling into escort formation as another Ion Cannon burst shot out from orbit, keeping the disabled Munificent frigate stuck in place as it launched its few still active fighters to screen it. The two transports sped down to the surface, Vultures breaking off to engage a squadron of mixed V-19 Torrents and Z-95 Headhunters engaged them in the atmosphere. The Vultures were in the faces of their opponents, keeping them in a fur ball despite being far weaker and without shields, several more Vultures moving in to keep the clone and local pilots occupied as the ships moved in to land at their destination, a small area near the capital with a village and a Republic outpost.

XXX

**Ten Standard Minutes Later**

**Kiros**

Darrus stepped off the transport and looked at the assembled droids. Not as many as he had hoped for, but they would, he hoped, be enough. Almost forty B1 Battle Droids (four of which carried rocket launchers), four Super Battle Droids, four STAPs, and three Dwarf Spider Droids. It was not the largest force, but it would suffice. Darrus was looking over a holographic map projected by an astromech he had onboard the vessel, observing the locations. A kilometer to his west was the ion cannon, and a little over another kilometer to his northeast was the local village. _Light militia guarding it... _ he glanced at the droids, deciding the weak things would be best put to use on the cannon, and a predatory grin crossed his face as he realized that a little diversion never hurt anyone.

"Listen up," he ordered, "you droids march towards the base, stick a little over six hundred meters away from it so you are not in missile range. Do not engage until I give the order."

"Roger roger!" a B1 said and the droids started marching when Darrus stopped a half squad of B1s and two of the Super Battle Droids.

"You droids are with me. STAPs as well." he ordered and gestured to the Zygerrian guardsmen with him. "Come, we have an empire to rebuild."

XX

"So," a B1 carrying a rocket launcher asked, "why are they off to that village, are we not supposed to be taking out that ion cannon over there?"

"Scratch me," the sergeant in charge said with a shrug, "No telling with them."

One of the Dwarf Spider Droids chattered something, getting a chorus of agreements from the droids as they reached their destination...

... and a rocket with a blue trail behind it sailed in and hit the droid that had started the conversation, blasting the poor piece of metal to pieces as the other droids barely got clear.

"Fire, FIRE!" the sergeant shouted to the other B1's with rockets as it threw itself to the ground, who knelt and fired back at the clones. The sergeant looked up to see at least thirty clones setting up behind their fortifications as the droids rockets sailed over and hit one of the two white, cylindrical anti-infantry turrets at the edge of the base, but did no damage. The droid's comlink beeped and it answered, finding Darrus' holographic projection scowling.

_"What are you fool droids doing? I did not order you to engage!"_

"We were fired on by those clones!" the sergeant explained, "So we fired back. It seemed... well, better than just being shot."

The Zygerrian grunted. _"Pull back and wait for my signal. Call me if any clones begin to move out of the base."_

"Roger roger! Back it up, back it up!"

The droids fell back as those with the rockets fired back, catching one of the clones firing missiles at them and blowing him apart as the droids hurried back away from the clones.

"I don't suppose we're getting reinforcements?" another B1 asked, lacking confidence.

XX

Darrus shut the communicator off as he looked at the target village. "STAPs, stand by for my orders. Droids, up front. You are going in first." The droids moved up as he lowered his binoculars and drew his blaster rifle. "Super Battle Droids, use your rockets on the gathering militia to spread their numbers."

"Roger roger." the bulky droids answered as they began marching forward. Rockets from the local militia shot out towards the advancing forces. One hit one of the Super Battle Droids, knocking it backwards and exposing circuitry, but otherwise the droid pushed on much to Darrus' disbelief as militiamen shot a pair of B1's from outside of normal blaster range. The grenades fired by the super battle droids took care of the militia with rockets and the two with riot shields that had set themselves up as a mobile barricade to protect them, blowing them into the air before they landed with a sickening set of crunches.

"Snipers!" one of the guardsmen shouted as they hurried into range behind the advancing squad of droids.

"First Team, try and stun them!" Darrus ordered as he switched his blaster to stun, "I think we know a few Hutts that could use some gladiators!"

He fired his blaster as he closed in and nodded to the slave drivers carrying shock whips, four more B1's collapsing as three militia fell to lethal blaster bolts. "Drivers, begin your duties. Guardsmen, suppress the militia!"

"Yes sir!" one of the guardsmen shouted as he rose and stunned one of the militia. Darrus leapt out of cover and while he ran, hooked his blaster to his back and drew his shock whip. By the time he had closed in, only one lone militia member was standing, and he had been knocked down by a near miss. Darrus advanced towards him menacingly, activating the whip.

"Give it up." he taunted to the last defender, "Don't make this any harder on yourself than it has to be, those clones aren't coming to save you."

"Kriff that," the militiaman snarled back, "we're not going back to those slave foundries of yours!" with that, he rose his blaster and took a shot, catching Darrus in the shoulder and staggering the captain before stun bolts knocked him out. He shook his head as he could hear the screams of the innocent and his comlink beeped. It was the B1 sergeant of the other group.

_"Sir!"_ the droid reported, _"There's a Republic team moving towards the village."_

"How many?" Darrus asked as he glanced up to see the locals moving quickly in the direction of the Republic base through every alley they could take to avoid them, but with them at the gates it would be a gauntlet.

_"About half the garrison, sir."_

Darrus grinned. "Good, begin your attack on the base. STAPs, move over and harass those civilians fleeing to the Republic, intercept them about half a kilometer from the town."

_"Roger Roger."_

Darrus grinned and turned his attention to the fleeing civilians, drawing his blaster again and joining in on the chase of slaves to be reacquired. The civilians fled, but his guards and droids gave chase and shot them as they had a line. He could of had those still set to kill switch to stun, but a lethal shot did not always kill, and bacta was cheap enough compared to the price of a good slave on the market.

XX

"Attack! Attack!" the leading B1 shouted as they began to attack. Azure bolts were still shooting into space from the Ion Cannon and from what the droid had overheard on the communication channels, the _Invisible Hand_ had been hit. All the droids except the ones with rocket launchers charged in while the ones with rockets hung back to fire from afar. One rocket blasted a clone missile soldier away while the Dwarf Spider Droids finished off the other clones with missiles as laser fire from the turrets sprayed at them rapidly, shooting out the receptors of a Dwarf Spider Droid. The poor droid collapsed with a pitiful whine before shutting down. The sergeant looked towards the base and noticed all the clones with long range launchers were gone.

"Pull back, pull back!" the droid ordered, "Let's get out of range of those turrets!"

The droids pulled back, firing at the clones as they did while the rocket launchers were turned towards the turrets for a sustained bombardment.

XX

Darrus ducked behind cover as the clones put themselves between the civilians and his men, STAPs overhead harassing anyone they could get a shot at. The clone heavy gunner in the rescue party was spitting blue blaster bolts into the air to keep the STAPs off as the remaining Guardsmen and Super Battle Droids moved in. Then the gunner turned his heavy cannon from the sky towards his men, shredding a Guardsman as he rose out of cover and left a large, scorched mark where his face was while three clones fell from the Guardsmen opening fire; two with rifles, and one of them the armed medic who was treating the injuries that a clone had sustained from the harassment above.

Darrus' comlink beeped and he pulled out his holotransmitter and activating it. It was Grievous. "General, what a pleasant surprise..." Darrus commented.

The cyborg growled at him, _"Darrus, get moving. That Ion Cannon has locked onto our position and is keeping us pinned by shutting down our engines. Get into that base and shut down that Ion Cannon! Or do I have to come down there myself?"_

"General, there has been stiff resistance here, I will make sure to end this quickly as I can. I have plans set in motion. Captain Darrus out." He closed the transmitter and put it back into his pocket when a blaster bolt from one of the clones caught him in the shoulder guard and knocked him onto his ass. He took a moment to take stock of the battlefield. The B2's had lived up to the 'Super' title and were tearing into the clones with the others when the remaining clones against his unit focused fire and brought one down, shortly followed by the other. But their focus had come at a cost and the clones were beginning to fall under the sustained attack even as the civilians hurried towards the base for theoretical safety. He smiled and keyed the other droids to enact the final push.

XX

"Alright, all or nothing boys!" the B1 sergeant shouted, "_Charge!"_

The droids lumbered once more towards the clones who were quite entrenched behind the base's doors and prepositioned sandbags at the perimeter. The Super Battle Droids fired into the gathered clones with the rest, blaster bolts and explosive rockets catching clone troopers and droids alike in the crossfire. The two turrets opened up with their repeating blasters and scythed into the droids, taking down eight B1's in a single sweep between the two. Rockets sailed into the right turret and began blowing chunks out of it as the durasteel plating began to fail. The droids continued charging, closing into closer range.

"Scrap that super!" a clone trooper shouted before all the turrets turned on the Super Battle Droid. The B1 sergeant, standing behind the SBD, turned and had only a few moments to realize how screwed it was before one of the anti-infantry turrets opened fire and shot it to pieces, the droid's head sailing into the air before landing in the grass.

XX

"Storming turret," the remaining Super Battle Droid stated as it began to lumber inside the undamaged turret. Two clone troopers were inside, one gunning and the other spitting blaster fire into his armor. It fired into the clone shooting at it and killed him, but the other clone whirled around and the last thing its photoreceptors saw was a blinding blue light before the B1's behind it finished the job.

XX

"Okay," a random B1 said as it took control of the turret, "Let's see how this thing works!"

"Roger roger," the other B1 said as it took up a position to help stop a counter storming as the clones and droids were fighting in melee. One clone bashed a B1's head in with the stock of his rifle before the Dwarf Spider Droid blasted him about ten meters back. The droid manning the turret hummed as he turned the gun that had killed so many droids and used it against the clones as the other turret exploded from repeated rocket hits. Blue laser bolts shot from the turret as the clones hurriedly fell back, but they were overwhelmed and their main advantages had been denied by the charge.

"We've got them on the run!" another B1 shouted.

"Where are those cowards hiding?"

"I saw one run into the ion cannon building! Turn the gun on them and burn 'em out!"

"Roger roger!" the droid manning the turret reported as it turned the cylindrical white turret towards the Ion Cannon and opened fire. And the only thing the barrage of blue bolts did was scratch the paint job. The droid scratched its head before trying again with similar results.

"I think they barricaded themselves inside..." a B1 with corporal's markings suggest, much to the gunner's annoyance. "Better call the captain."

XX

Darrus let a feral smile cross his face as his men closed in on the civilians now pinned between a rock and a hard place. The Republic base was now visibly controlled by the droids, and now his men were advancing towards them. He was in range and stunned one of the civilians to get their attention. He held his hand up to his men and stepped forward so they could hear it. "People of this world, you have no where left to run. Do not make it necessary to damage you any further than needed." Overhead, the B1's on STAPs had set their blasters to stun and were hovering over them and DSD1's from the base attack crew came up to help emphasize the point and the slave drivers activated their energy whips as they took positions to surround them.

One by one, they began to surrender. Once they had, Darrus gestured for the slave drivers to stun them and walked into the base and looked at the now leading battle droid. "Report."

"We have pinned the clones into the ion cannon building, but we cannot dig them out from here." a B1 with corporal's markings reported. "Shall we prepare to storm the building?"

"No. Let us give them a chance to surrender first, so we do not need to take unnecessary casualties." He coughed into his hand and stepped towards the ion cannon, which still thundered azure bolts into orbit. He glanced towards the civilians and grinned. "Clone Troopers, stand down. Shut down the ion cannon and come out unarmed to surrender. You will not be killed by my hand if you do so. If you do not..." he nodded to a guardsman who dragged one of the captured civilians and put a blaster to his head, "I will execute these people one by one. Their lives are in your hands." He stepped back in order to stay out of range and the guardsman dragged the civilian to the side while another one walked up.

"Captain, do you believe these slaves of the Republic will surrender? Surely the cloners disciplined them to obey orders."

"Mind your place," Darrus retorted quietly. "If they do not, we will cut power to the ion cannon and leave them trapped inside. Executing our goods is poor business, and Jabba does not pay enough for dead meat to feed whichever rancor he owns right now."

"Sir," the guardsman said before withdrawing when the door to the ion cannon opened, a clone trooper sticking his head into the opening so he could be heard. Darrus looked up, expectant at the message.

"_Nuts!_" he shouted before ducking back into cover and closing the door behind him before any blaster bolts could be fired. Darrus grit his teeth as a B1 next to him put its hands on its torso.

"They should of cloned someone who had balls," the droid said. "Shall we prepare to storm?"

"Take up positions but do not storm until I give the command. Rockets, fire on the power router."

"Roger roger!" the droid said as the B1's began setting up along the building to storm it when the order was given as rockets were fired at the rather tough power router. Durasteel plating over duracrete structure with durasteel support beams proved its strength yet again as the third volley finished. Darrus frowned as the clones still did not react. He had not anticipated them being willing to put everything into keeping that ion cannon operational before realizing that he was dealing with regular clones, not Jedi lead clones.

Suddenly, the door to the ion cannon burst open and the clones charged out firing their blaster rifles, except for one who had a flamethrower and charged straight for Darrus. Before he could react, the clone pulled the trigger and a spray of flame caught his armor, forcing him to drop to the ground and roll in an effort to put it out as a melee battle raged...

XX

"Sir, are you alright?" a B1 asked as its superior put out the flames. They had lost several more droids in the melee, but they had taken out all the clones before they could do much more damage.

"Yes," the Zygerrian slaver muttered darkly, rubbing his chin to make sure his fur was not on fire. His armor was burnt but repairable. "Get in there and shut down the cannon. Let us not keep our benefactor waiting."

"Roger roger!" the droid said and joined the team storming the building, expecting auto turrets as they came into the controls. "Okay, shut down this ion cannon!"

"Uh, how do we do that?" a B1 asked. Groaning, the lead B1 walked up to the computer and began accessing it. When it demanded a pass code and a few tries failed, it simply shot the computer several times with the blaster, filling the screen with holes.

The ion cannon gave one last thud with its final bolt, and then went silent.

XX

"Finally," Darrus muttered darkly, deciding that the droids taking the brunt was for the best. "Gather all our prisoners and check the road here, make sure we have all the fresh meat accounted for!"

"Yes sir!" a guardsman said as he began to call the secondary slave ships that would carry the prisoners away. Once loaded, it would be a very simple and short hyperspace jump to where they had larger ships to carry the civilians, hidden so that the Republic would not be able to send a rescue unit until it was too late.

"A fine prize for Zygerria, is it not, Captain?" a slave driver asked as he holstered his shock whip.

"Yes." Darrus said as he looked at the newly claimed slaves, Torguta and clone alike, being pulled together for transport. "The Jedi thought they could slight our empire and cheat us out of our due, and now we shall reclaim it." He pulled out his holotransmitter in order to give his benefactor the good news.

XX

_**Invisible Hand**_

**Kiros Orbit**

Grievous growled as another azure bolt hit the ship and shot through it. Captain Dofine was busy managing the ship as the cyborg general prowled, wondering if he should of had second thoughts of letting the slaver do it. From the reports they received from the droids between ion bursts, he had gotten greedy and went for the civilians first. _Bah. The strategy was bold and played on the Republic's morals. So long as we win and I can land to do real damage, I will not care for his strategy._

"Sir, Squadron Seven was destroyed by the local fighters." A B1 reported from his console.

"Stupid machines, they cannot even fight a little over a half squadron of locals?" he asked incredulously. It was one thing for it to happen in the storm between two capital ships, especially when that kriffing Skywalker was in the fray, but eight local craft surviving that many Vultures, even if sent in waves, was downright grinding on him. He had plenty more to spare, the one thing the droids did right was exist in large numbers. "What about the ground?"

"We are receiving a transmission from the ground, General."

"Good." Grievous said as he strode back to the center of the bridge to answer it. The Zygerrian captain's image materialized into life. _Well, it looks like he was quite burned in that last battle,_ Grievous noted, unpleasant memories of his own shuttle crash coming back to haunt him.

_"General, we have won the ground battle in this region and have disabled the ion cannon. All resistance in this region has been neutralized."_ Darrus reported.

"Good, good. We will commence our landing shortly. I am going to send you a reinforcement party. Your region is a decent landing zone for a small party, but we need to land our heavy equipment closer to the capital. Take two hours to recover and patch up while I send you reinforcements, then move into the valley and secure our proper landing zone. The air battle is over, for now. The local fighters have withdrawn to the capital to refuel and repair." He growled at a nearby B1 on his bridge, which recoiled in fear of the cyborg general's wrath.

_"We await your generosity, My Lord."_ Darrus said curtly, _"We will be ready to move on your orders."_

Grievous simply nodded. "I commend you for a fierce battle strategy and accomplishing both your objectives. It was bold, and bloody. A close battle, but the ruthlessness of it reminds me of days long gone. You also accomplished part of our other objective, to make the Republic look weak. They could not defend those civilians, could they?" The cyborg chuckled, recalling memories of his time before he was the cyborg, before the Jedi came to assist the enemies of his people.

_"Civilians?"_ Darrus said with a tilted eyebrow, _"All I see here is meat ready for transportation, Sir."_

Grievous paused a moment, surprised at the cynical outlook. Even if he did not respect the conventions protecting them and took joy in the slaughter, he at least distinguished between warriors and the collateral. He then noticed a preliminary list included clones. "So it is, then." he answered before asking his own question, "What do you intend to do with the clones?"

"_Clones form a bad basis for slaves, even manual labor seems mostly out of their league due to their ingrained training."_ Darrus said with a scowl before his features softened and Grievous could see the cold hearted business dealer within many slavers. _"Though, they may hold tactical information, that may be of use to someone like yourself. Perhaps we could organize a trade for such valuable goods..."_

Grievous briefly simmered before nodding and realizing that it could be worth it. "Send them up on the next transport I send down to you, then. I will pass them onto our interrogators. We will discuss compensation when we do not have the possible imminence of the Republic Fleet on our necks."

T3-P6 leaned over. "Sir," the tactical droid stated, "The Republic has managed to counter our jamming long enough to send an SOS to the Republic Fleet. Our informants report that Admiral Killian's battle group, the closest, is less than a day away, and consists of four _Venator_-class cruisers."

Grievous simply growled again. "I will send you another transport of droids, Darrus. We need a landing zone for our heavier equipment. Tend to your wounds and once my droids have reinforced you, advance into the valley and claim our landing zone. Tee-Three, give him the information on the region."

"Yes, sir."

_"As you wish, my lord,"_ Darrus responded. _"Soon the Republic will be gone from this planet and we shall reclaim what is rightfully ours."_

Grievous automatically recalled the details of how they lost their 'rightful' possessions and closed his fist. "Yes... a shame there are no Jedi to crush here. Report when you are ready to move, Captain."

XX

**Eight Standard Hours Later**

**Outskirts of the Planetary Capital**

It had been a slog to reach their current destination, but now they were finally in sight of their goal: the capital. Darrus was standing on a small crest near the city, looking over a projected map with Grievous. Over the last few hours, he had marched through the valley, secured Grievous' landing zone (suffering a number of injuries in the process that his armor mostly took), and had done some raiding of the smaller towns while Grievous was busy pushing towards the capital, which they now prepared to besiege. The Republic's air support was mostly gone thanks to being bled out in the battles to reach the capital, but as they looked at the map they saw a number of gunships standing by. Darrus frowned, "Those gunships will be used to evacuate our prize."

"Yes... or to bring in additional forces from elsewhere. Their air support may have dried up, but we must take out the garrison." Grievous said as he pointed at locations on the map, "I will push for the Governor's Tower and deal with the good governor Roshti myself, while you destroy the Republic base. It is time to burn this worthless capital to the ground."

Darrus raised an eyebrow, "Just remember what was promised to us for assisting you in this operation."

Grievous ignited a lightsaber near Darrus' neck, "And do not forget who is truly in charge, Darrus. Assemble the droids _I_ have allowed you to use, and move on the garrison while I carve a path."

"So be it, _my lord_." Darrus answered, making a mental note that Grievous was to be kept at arm's length if possible after the battle.

XXX

XXX

**End Chapter**

* This chapter is a summation of a small beta I ran with Gray Area, specifically the first mission/battle of it. This means that the narration was basically taking how it happened in the beta, then adapted it to narration. It's a little finnicky at points, but overall I felt like it came out pretty well. I cut the middle two missions of the beta as a matter of time and pace. To summarize the middle two missions (clearing Grievous' landing zone and town raids); the valley was cleared after a few guerilla raids and Darrus' force of droids and Zygerrian slavers nearly got overwhelmed when Grievous' advanced guard of B1's landed to swarm the place with metallic bodies, and the town raids was Darrus hitting a pair of local towns in an attempt to get at the civilians there for the Zygerrian's slave market while Grievous marched for the capital.

* As for why I chose Gray Area for the beta, suffice it to say that I knew he could write and RP as a villain for the purposes of it and he knows the rule set, having created the basic rules that I used and modified for the RP itself. The initial phase before landing is basically my interpretation of Darrus, and afterwards it becomes GA's interpretation with some minor changes by me for the purposes of the narrative. Overall, it worked out pretty well in my opinion and I want to thank Gray Area for participating.

* Kiros was originally peaceful, in both the comic and in the TV adaptation of the _'Slaves of the Republic_' arc in Season Four. However, what we do not see in the TV adaptation was that they actually moved past being weaponless and not only accepted a Republic garrison, they asked for assistance in building their own militia force in the event it was not enough. It did not mean they were turning to all out war, they just were not going to be hapless victims anymore.

* As for Grievous, I do agree that he was really hammered in the series, he got beaten up too many times and his wins were never that great (_Massacre_ excluded, of course). What I disagree with is everyone whining that he should be like he was in the 2D series (on account that there, he was literally based on the concept "Jedi killing cyborg", concept art, and nothing else), I do like what Dave Filoni did to him as far as characterizing him in Season Three and on. He is a capable fighter, but he plays dirty. Conversely, I disagree with Filoni stating that Grievous would be unable to win a fair fight with any Jedi. Now, against Obi-Wan or Anakin? He would probably lose or at least have to cheat/cut his losses. But against red shirt Jedi or inexperienced ones? He would more likely than not win in a 'fair' fight. So that's how I plan on writing him: Capable of holding his own and is extremely dangerous in a 'fair' fight, but he prefers to turn the odds in his favor, and also relies on terrorizing his opponents (see Dooku's admonishment on what his strategy should be in the original 2D Clone Wars series).

* Now, I mentioned that I was moving the fic away from the RP I originally intended this to be an intro to last chapter. I am still doing this, but if I ever end up doing any tests, I'll see if I can fit them into the story.


End file.
